FUNK it UP!

This layout is for a contest called, you guessed, Funk it up. Not really doing the contest to win...just forcing my self to create some stuff. Anyway, this layout is about my gang! The girls I talk about on this blog are pictured. I was the last one to move to Three Rivers, Texas and that happened in 1985. We were all in the 9th grade. Stephanie, Stacy, and Michelle lived in TR all their lives at that point. Emma moved there in Jr. High. We became inseparable by the time we were in 10th grade. You may not have seen all of us together all the time, but there was always more than one of us! Every year or so we try and plan a little trip together. This was just a weekend in San Antonio. Again, my sides hurt from laughing so much!!! I love them more than I ever thought was possible and feel so blessed to have them in my life. It is so comforting to have friends that know all about you (and I do mean ALL) and love you in spite of it...or because of it. I feel I could (and have) tell them anything. It hasn't always been a bed of roses, but that is another thing that makes our relationship so great. You got to have the downs, to fully enjoy the ups. Just ask Michelle about the time I stranded her in San Marcos...we didn't speak for a long while after that. But, we eventually worked our way around it and can see the humor in all of it now! I love you girls...

You ever laugh so much your sides hurt the next day?

That is the way I feel today. My sides hurt! I laughed so much yesterday. It was my 36th birthday and I ended up at a party in Whitsett, Texas. Whitsett is a small community south of San Antonio. The party wasn't for me...but I crashed it with my friend Stacy. It was hosted by the unofficial mayor of Whitsett, Jack Meeks. We had such a good time! Highlights of the weekend...greasy Pat and his mix cassette tape (yes, you read that right, a mix cassette tape!) of music from movies (will now always think of Pat when I hear the music from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), Tony and his Silence of the Lambs van (that he had to pull a lawn mower and weed eater out of the back so we could sit in it), getting reprimanded my Stacy's mom because I said the "f" word one too many times around her, shooting a gun for the first time (I decimated a cactus), making a run for sausage and cake, finding out Charlie Pilgrim (I love Charlie Pilgrim!) is not the jerk I thought he was in high school...all in all, a great time! If you ever have a chance to go to a party thrown in Whitsett, I highly recommend it!

I love my friend Stephanie

Okay, so I just moved to Austin...and I am starting over. I am very limited in my household goods/supplies. Moving is such a pain. I don't have things like a broom, vacuum, etc. I was sharing my distress with Stephanie. She said that she had a vacuum I could have. She had to warn me that it was very loud. It is so loud in fact, she threw in earmuffs. This might not be the correct terminology...they are not winter earmuffs, they are the kind of things that you would put over your ears if you were going to the shooting range. Stephanie is the only person I know that would give someone a vacuum and throw in some ear protection that would normally be used at the shooting range. Oh, and don't think that I am taking Stephanie's last pair. She has several. Hanging in her home office is a target practice sheet from the last time she went to the range. As a matter of fact...she almost shot me last year. Well, not really...but I still nearly peed my pants. Stacy and I had a few beers and decided it would be fun to toilet paper Stephanie's house. We grabbed all the necessary items and headed over to Steff's. We started tossing the stuff around in her yard having a good old time. Probably being too loud and taking to long. At one point Stacy said that she was getting nervous because we were taking a long time and hadn't seen Steff. Just as soon as she said this, we heard the cocking of a rifle. I kid you not...I seriously screamed like a little girl. Mean while, Stacy is saying "stick close to the fence, we are a harder target if we stick close to the fence". OMG! Have you ever seen any of the Terminator movies? I think it was the first one. Linda Hamilton cocks (is that the right terminology??) a rifle with one hand. Totally tough! This is Stephanie. Of course, she said she had been watching us out the window the whole time. Just did the gun thing to scare us. Stacy and I still need to pay her back for that...we just need to hide all of Stephanie's shells and bullets first!

My 36th birthday fast approaches

My 36th birthday is this Saturday (the 24th of February). Last year I made a box of "forty things to do before 40". Some are serious and some are not so serious...things like learn more about religion (all types of religion), decide if I am going to have a child, fly a real kite, etc. I don't think I have completed any of the items on my list. What kind of a slacker am I?? Get busy living, or get busy dying. I think I need to get off of my ass and do the former and not the latter!

Another reason being a girl sucks!

Okay, so I am looking at getting a part time job. No, my parents don't pay me enough. I am sure they think I make too much for what I do. I think I am almost the lowest paid employee - damn my luck, they don't play favorites. Anyway, I had to do the drug screen today for the part time job. Can I just say that I hate peeing in a cup???!!!! Being a man, your aim has to be better. This is gross, but do you know how many times I have peed on my hand??? Not just once...and let's just leave it at that. I hate that you can't wash your hands after until you exit the restroom and hand them the cup. Okay, my cup and hand are just dripping. Does anyone want to be subjected to that?? It is my urine and I don't even want it on me! I can see why guys pee outside. If I had their parts, I would be peeing on everything...just because I could! Well, maybe not everything. My friend Douglas peed on a dog once. I have never quite forgiven him for that.

Valentine's Day Sucks

It is just another holiday for you to feel shitty about yourself. Even when I was in a relationship, I still didn't like the holiday. If you love someone...they should know. You should tell them and make them feel appreciated as much as possible. A Hallmark card, some flowers, and a few chocolates isn't going to do it. If you are by yourself, it just makes you feel inadequate because you don't have someone. Well, guess what, you aren't inadequate and some stupid holiday shouldn't ruin your day.

My Freedom Song...

Stacy's brother Preston has a freedom song. His song is by Kelly Clarkson - Miss Independent. It cracks me up that he has a freedom song and that Kelly Clarkson is his choice. This got me thinking about what my freedom song would be. Right now, my freedom song is "Everything I do gon' be funky (from now on)". This is a song by Lee Dorsey, but the version I am partial to is sung by Toni Price. I also have a tendency to listen to songs I like on repeat (just like my movies). Right now my iPod is stuck on Train in Vain by The Clash, Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers, and The End of the World by Skeeter Davis. This sampling is a great cross section of my music tastes. I am all over the board when it comes to music. I don't listen to one particular type or genre...I will listen to just about anything, at least once. So, what's your freedom song???

Back in H-Town...

and trying to figure out how I am going to cram all my stuff from a 2000 sq. ft. house in to a 600 sq. ft. apartment! My sister has been telling me for YEARS that I have too much stuff. She is so right. I am not even touching the attic at this point. Do you know how much I love Halloween?? That is my favorite holiday. I have this awesome tree that I decorate every year for Halloween. Kind of like a Christmas tree...but spooky and cool. All that stuff is in the attic. I have to leave my cats behind too. That is painful. I was thinking back on this, my whole life I have had a cat and/or a dog. Growing up, we always had pets. Usually cats and dogs, but once my sister and I each had a pet mouse. Don't even ask how that faired. It was all my sister's fault too. She was the one that wanted a mouse. Being the younger sister, I had to have one just because she wanted one. The only time I have been without a pet was in college. Now, I am without again. I guess I could get a fish. Don't worry though, my cats are being taken care of. When I go to HQ, my mom and my sister have dogs and cats. Our office usually has one of my sister's dogs or several of my mom's cats in it. We need them...that office is high stress. The pets help us keep the little bit of sanity that we have left.

I {heart} Texas!

I have been thinking about this of late...especially with my move to Austin. I didn't want to move to Texas. My mom, my step dad, and my sister moved first. I stayed in Colorado and attempted to live with my dad. That lasted for about a day. So, I eventually ended up in Three Rivers, Texas with my family. When I thought of Texas, I thought of cowboy hats and country music - two things I definitely didn't like at the time. I was a punk (pink, spiked hair, "alternative" clothes, listened to music that no one in Three Rivers had ever heard of). This was a small town - my graduating class from High School was 65 ish people. I think the town had less than 2000 residents. The adults had a problem with my look, but my fellow classmates didn't. My class really didn't have any divisions along any lines either. We were friends with everyone. I talked and hung out (or got drunk) with just about everyone. That was so cool and so not normal. To this day, I am still in contact with my closest friends from High School. 4 of them live in and around Austin. Well, Michelle is moving to Amarillo...but still in Texas. I am so glad to have them here with me in Austin, it has made this move a little easier. Not only did I get 4 awesome friends out of high school, but also got a scholarship that paid for my education. I was headed no where in Colorado...lost in a huge high school, hanging out with the wrong kids, and failing some of my classes. Three Rivers didn't allow me to do that.
I always thought I wanted to live in a big city...I love New York City! But, I can't imagine living there, everything is so closed in and close. My parents recently moved their business. They bought 700+ acres of land in Millican, Texas. Millican has about 12 people and a post office. There is nothing but land and cattle out there. It is awesome to be able to go out there and just look at the stars at night. No traffic noises, no lights, not really any smog. Where am I going with this? I don't really know, just one more thing I love about Texas.
I lived in Los Angeles for about 6 months...short term contract engineering job. I hated it! There are certain parts of California I love...San Diego, San Francisco, Napa Valley...not L.A. Granted, there were a lot of things to do...but the people were so plastic! There were real people, don't get me wrong, but there were plastic people everywhere and they all looked the same. Plastic hair, plastic face, plastic money...it was like a whole bunch of Barbies and Kens came to life and were living in L.A. When I would come back to Texas and visit during this time I was never so happy to see cowboy hats, wranglers and hear the wonderful sound of a diesel truck. Sights and sounds of home. I could live other places and have lived other places, but I think I will always feel like Texas is my home.

Disclaimer...

The movies listed in the previous post are not, necessarily, on my favorite movies list. They are just movies I get sucked in to watching. I have a lot of movies on my favorites list...some of them are The Princess Bride, O Brother Where art Thou?, Moulin Rouge, Momento, Giant, Lock,Stock, and two Smoking Barrels, a few of Clint Eastwood's funny Spaghetti Westerns....I can't think of others right now. I have a long list!

Do you ever get stuck watching the same movie over and over???

I seem to do that. A while back it was Tombstone. Don't know why I like that movie, I just do. Maybe my fascination with the old west. I also love a line from Doc Holiday in that movie....there is no normal life, Wyatt, there is just life...LOVE that line. So true. We strive for so long to live a normal life. We really need to strive just to live, there is no normal life. Right now I am stuck on Hope Floats. Sappy, syrupy movie that is just a piece of fluff...and yet it has its moments. A quote at the end....beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it is the middle that counts the most...you need to remember that when you find yourself at a beginning, give hope a chance to float up. I am also stuck on 40 year old virgin. That movie just gets funnier and funnier the more I watch it. When I first saw it, I didn't think it was that funny. Now, I laugh every time I see it. "You know how I know you're gay you macra made yourself a pair of jean shorts." Man, that is funny!