Weekend wrap-up, and an easy Monday.

Slept in Saturday, till about 11:30, and then zipped over to Belton. My buddy David from Gatesville, his cousin (forgot the name - sorry), and another Civil War reenactor buddy of Dave's, Joe Walker from Waco, all met me at the Bell County Expo center at Belton at about noon or noon-thirty.

I walked in and went right up to Joe and almost past him, not seein' him at all. If he hadn't spoken up I would have probably run right over him. You see, he's about belly hight to me, below the radar. He's a great guy, and didn't take it personally. When we met originally we were both happy to learn that we'd spent time on the same aircraft carrier. He was in the Navy, stationed on the USS Ranger back in the early 1970s, and I taught college classes on the same ship 20 years later.

We paid our $5 and started the walk up and down the isles, looking for anything that might strike a fancy. This Belton show isn't usually a great show, being very small, but it's too damn close and handy to pass up. Plus, some times the local folks will bring in interesting stuff and rent a table. You never really know what or who you'll see.

Turns out I did find myself a new little toy.

It's a little pocket knife/bottle opener, made from something that looks and feels like titanium. Remember when that shit was a strategic metal, and they made F-15s out of it?

Now they make every kind of crap out of it you can imagine. Anyway, It's got a locking blade and a thumb/one hand action, which is such the rage these days. OK, I had an impulse. Just glad it wasn't a new Kalashnikov. It should come in handy at some point.

So, after the show, I went over to the folks house for a short visit. Mom fixed me a sandwich and some chips, and then I was off to Big "D".

I headed up I-35 towards Ft. Worth and then cut off on 67, so I could head to Duncanville, where my buddy Jim lives. As I took the exit from the highway, guess what I saw sitting on a little shoulder of grass on the East side of the access road?

Of course, for Bruno's sake, I had to do a drive-by.

Turns out it was late, about 5:30 PM, and they were already shutting it down, but it looked like they'd had quite a tractor show. I got a few shots as I rolled by, and made plans to hit it on the way home Sunday afternoon. However, events conspired against me, and I ended up blowing that little detour off. Hold it together man, there'll be another day.

I got to Jim's place by 6PM. I chatted up his wife while he showered (he'd just returned from an overnight trip to Abeline), and then we headed out to pick up a buddy of his at his house in Oak Lawn. We did Mexican food at a local joint there, sitting outside because of the nice weather. All these guys wanted to talk about was this one homeless lady that they've seen walking up and down this road for years, and how enormous her breasts were.

They drifted back and forth from wonder to sympathy, until I noted that if she'd been homeless for that long, and wasn't in rags and emaciated, then obviously she'd figured something out and found a way to make those titties pay. I mean, I'm NOT the fountain of experience here, but another name for a "homeless" lady who is known for walking the streets and seems to be well fed... help me guys... IS A HOOKER! Jesus, Liberals amaze me.

Anyway, after dinner we headed over to Mockingbird Station to see a flick at the Angelica theater. We saw the 8PM showing of "In the Valley of Elah", starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron, along with Susan Sarandon and Jason Patric. It's a very sad and depressing (read artfully told) tale of an excessively strait laced ex Army MP/father trying to figure out what's happened to his son, a recently returned Iraq War vet, who has disappeared soon after coming back from the war. Of course, it's meant to be an indictment of the Army, the war, and those that support it. It has all the signs of being a broad brush hatchet job telling us that all our returning vets are now so scarred by their experiences that they will never be able to function in society as they did before they left. It smells like the same story we heard for years about all Vietnam Vets.

On another level, it is a very moving story about official stupidity, human frailty, and the sort of things that do change in a person when they go through those searing war time experiences. I do recommend it, but it's not for those who ether can't extract themselves from the obvious political bullshit that is being laid on them, or those with their own war time issues, who may not want to go there. It's worth seeing. Tommy Lee is the king, and that's enough to say about that.

After the movie, we went out onto the patio in front of the theater and decided to sit down and drink a beer. Out front and to the side of the theater entrance is the Trinity Hall Irish Pub. My friends all decided to try a Black and Tan, but I figured it was time for a Guinness or two off the tap. I'd tried the bottles, and found it wanting. The pub was full to the brim with lots of Irish looking dudes (lots of sweaters and dark clothes) and pretty young girls that looked like they were drifting up from SMU. Across from the pub, towering over the square, are these amazing loft apartments that go for about a grand a month. The top floor places looked like they had 20 foot ceilings, and all of them have huge glass windows and balconies that allow the occupants to see everything going on beneath them. Thing is, if I lived there, I think I'd invest in some curtains. It's a beautiful place, I wanna tell ya. ALL the scenery was prime.

After downing three mugs, and not feeling much more than normally happy, I decided that this crap about Guinness was just that. Well, I guess the stuff you get in Britain may have more fire power, but I've about exhausted my interest in the version I can get here. We sat around for about an hour, drinking and talking about the movie, and our women. It was a cool evening, doing guy shit that I really don't have much experience with. They wanted to know about Denise, and they wanted to tell me about all their issues with their lady friends. It was hilarious to listen to.

One guy is married to a harpie that makes his life miserable a lot of the time, all because he got her pregnant 11 years ago. The other guy was celebrating his second divorce, which became official last Wednesday, and the third guy was talking about how he's allowed his girlfriend to take greater and greater control his life. She's talked him into taking a job at her law firm (he used to be a public defender), and that she and his teenage daughter can't stand one another. So, he's stuck in a rut, between a very pretty rock and a hard place, and wonders how he allowed himself to get there. And then they all wanted to know if I was "serious" about Denise, and if not, why not.

I was like "Dudes, we like each other, and we're having a good time, and that's as far as it's gonna go. " They laughed, and insinuated that I needed to be careful, and that I had a lot to learn. OK, that's a given, but I don't think I want to learn what I need to learn from these assholes, necessarily. I just watch and learn, and try to glean from this person and that, little tid bits of wisdom along the way. My days of blindly strolling through life are long over, and I'm NOT gonna ever let anyone or anything run my shit, if I can do anything about it.

On the movie, we had the typical discussion about the acting, and how the movie turned out, and then the lawyer, recognizing that I live in Killeen, wanted to know if these returning soldiers are really turning into a bunch of crazed killers. His question was a perfect illustration of the impact of the message of the film, which most ignorant people and/or knee-jerk liberals will easily extract from it. The film is an indictment of the war, and the "Love it or friggin' leave it" conservative pro-war AM radio culture, all disguised as sympathy for what the war is supposedly doing to all these young men and women who've served in it. I'm not saying that there aren't problems with some returning vets, but there have ALWAYS been problems with returning vets, from every war. Meanwhile, the vast majority suck it up, go back to their normal lives, go to school, and keep their war time traumas to themselves. If you're lucky, you get to hear about what they did when they get old enough, and sentimental enough, to want to tell you, but they don't become tower shooters. What a bunch of stupid, insulting bullshit!

I spent the night on Jim's couch (very plush and comfy), and then Sunday we went up to Dallas with his daughter to check out CDs and Bookstores and to screw around. Then they talked me into going to his Mother-in-laws place for Sunday dinner. We're talkin' roast beef, squash casserole, taters and carrots, biscuits, and everything else you can think of. It was topped of with slices of Lemon Chess and Apple pie. Mmmmmm.

I headed home down I-35 East after that, with the Cowboys comfortably ahead of the... what losers did they play? Anyway, I headed home, gassing up in Waco, and stopping for another feed in Temple. That's right, a few hours after eating all that food in Duncanville, I had steak (a thick bastard) and a baked potato and peas with the folks in Temple.

Here's dad, cutting his steak. He loves to eat there in the little nook by the garage door, sitting in front of the TV and enjoying the heat from the kitchen. He gets cold easily.

And here's what mine looked like. I tell ya, my mom cooks the best steak anywhere. We don't even bother to order steak anywhere else. Best cook in Bell county, fer sure.



And then there was Jello, topped with Mandarin Oranges. Love this stuff. Yes, I'm a diabetic. Why do you ask? Oh hell, my blood is fine, and I'm still losing weight. Steady at 290. Must be doin' somethin' right.

On the way home to Killeen, there was an onlooker slowdown at Nolanville, where a car had gone over a railing and rolled down to the access road below. They had a fire truck and a care flight there, and I took a shot. God bless those folks. Hope all is well.

When I got home, I sat down in front of this thing, to read emails and try to ketch up on a few blogs, and before I knew it it was time to shower and go pick up Denise and the airport. She flew in at 9:30, and then we retreated to her place, watched some of "The War" on PBS, and the rest of the evening is history. Piss off. Need-to-know only.

This morning I got to my classes in Florence and found out that most of my students had ether gone on a field trip to the State Fair in Dallas, which recently opened, or they had just blown off school. So, I blew off school. I sat there and surfed the web, to the extent that I can on their silly assed censored version of the web, and listened to the tunes that I've uploaded to the computer. Every once and a while a kid will give me this look and ask me "Who is that?" Teachin' never stops. Payin' it forward.

Anyway, I'm gonna take a nap, and then I have to go give my last final exam on Ft. Hood at 4:45. I'll average all the grades and load them in the computer tonight, and then I'll be coolin' my jets for two weeks (only having to deal with Florence in the morning) until the next semester begins on the 15th.

So, you guys take care. Don't eat too much (Ha!), and I'll be seein' ya later. Cheers.