What I've been up to lately.

Last weekend, Denise and I flew to Nashville, rented a car...



We called it the "Bread Truck"... and drove up to Bowling Green to watch her youngest kid get her Masters Degree from Western Kentucky University.



The fun started along the way, when we discovered a Pappasito's near our gate at DFW Airport.



It was like they knew we was comin'! All we had time for was the chips and spicy queso, and that's a Negra Modelo there. Good, dark Mexican beer, off the tap.



Of course, another reason for the trip was to give Denise a chance to spend some time with her new granddaughter.



I was packed with all the appropriate gear. A few good cigars, a new torch (my trusty old one finally died on me), a cutter, my blade, and extra batteries for my old camera.



Of course, any trip to Kentucky includes a stop along the way for fresh Yuengling. They sell the stuff at stop-n-robs along 65. Very handy.



The big event was Friday (we flew in Thursday night). It was cool, but it lasted all friggin' day long. Congratulations to Lynn on her achievement. Well done.

Another reason for me to go on this trip was to put together a little toy I'd bought and had shipped to Lynn's house. Call me crazy, but I picked up a nice new car for the little ankle biter.



It's a battery powered "Barbi" Mustang GT. I saw it a while back in Wal Mart and decided little Payton had to have one. It took me about 45 minutes or an hour, long sweaty minutes to put the thing together, but in the end, it was well worth it.



Of course, women are a fickle lot. Hard to please. But in time, when she's old enough to drive it (in about 3 years), it'll be there for her to enjoy.



On the Saturday after the graduation, we all went back to Lynn's place for the party. You can see little Payton has a taste for the hard stuff.



I found myself some o' that hard stuff too. Barrel select. They don't sell this stuff around here. Brought these two home in the bag. Good to go.



The party food was wonderful. Denise made some of her famous Southern Comfort Punch, and her ex-hubby made some awesome cheese dip.



He also grilled burgers, brats and hot dogs on the grill out back. Those Brats were the best. Wonderful stuff.

In the end, Sunday afternoon, we drove back down to Nashville and started the trip home.



Back in DFW airport, we chose to eat dinner at the TGI Fridays. I love their Jack Danial's burger.

Anyway, this is a quick one. I'm in the library at San Saba again, and it's time to go back to the jail. I'm here on Friday making up some classes that I'm gonna miss in a few weeks. I'll tell ya about that next time. Gotta go. Cheers.

This is hilarious. You ever notice how often this line crops up in movies?

HOLY SHIT!

And if that won't do it for ya, dig this. Wild eh? Cheers.

Forbidden fruit is always sweeter.

It's amazing, what was considered scandalous back in the day. Reminds me of something.

You ever see the film "Cinema Paradiso"? It's a wonderful Italian movie from back in the 1990s (I think), about a kid who grows up in a little town, with the local movie theater as the center of his life. The kid is befriended by the old projectionist, and eventually works in the theater.



One day, when the kid grows up to be a famous director, he gets a roll of film form the dead projectionists estate. It turns out to be all the banned or censored scenes for all the movies he'd ever shown, all spliced together. Watch the movie from the start and you'll be tearing up by this scene. It's a wonderful film. Rent it if you haven't seen it.

First off...

My Wednesday night pool team won the tournament last night. We went from last place to third, and now head go to the City tournament. If we win there, we go to Vegas to play. Wouldn't that be a hoot?



Secondly, two of my Juniors down in Florence won the state Class 2A Tennis Championships Tuesday. That's Ashee Brunson there on the cover of the local sports page. She and Kasey Button won the Girls Doubles title, 7-5, 6-3. I'm proud as hell of these kids.



Finally, my sister drove into town from Oklahoma Wednesday to visit mom and get some stuff from her storage locker. I went over in the afternoon and took these two of my women out to eat at BJs.



We started out with drinks and appetizers. Tater skins and Santa Fe Spring Rolls. Mmmm, good. Mom ended up having two Margaritas, while sis killed three Bloody Marys. I was the piker here, enjoying just one Blue Moon. But I was driving.



My meal of choice was the BBQ chicken sandwich, with Applewood smoked bacon. Again... Mmmm, good. After the appetizers, I only ate half the sandwich. Yea, I know. I must be slipping. But I wanted to bring the other half home to Denise, who was at work and couldn't be there. Yea, I'm such a sweet guy. Pffft.

After the visit I drove back home, and in time, Denise and I headed for the pool hall. It was a fun night. Two cigars. I'm really proud of my teammates. They all played really well. I hope we can keep it up in a few weeks at City.

As I've already told you, Denise and I fly out to Nashville this afternoon. We'll rent a car there and drive up to Bowling Green, where much of Denise's family is gathering to see her youngest walk the stage to get her Masters Degree. It should be a fun trip. We'll fly home Sunday, and I'm sure I'll have pictures to show you.

I hope you all have a great weekend too. Cheers.

CTC held it's annual graduation ceremony last Friday morning.

here are my friends and I, sitting up in the front row of the faculty, decked out in all our fuferaw. That's Elke next to me, and then Dave (Lazarus), and then Mark. These are the folks I go to chili cook-offs with. They've all got their masters degrees now (Mark graduates this Friday), but I can remember when they were all taking my classes, just starting to work on finishing their Bachelors Degrees. I'm really proud of all of them.



The leading speaker at the graduation was a former commander of Ft. Hood, who's son was also among the graduates.



When the time came for his son to get his degree, Dad came down and handed it over. Pretty cool. I had the boy in class a few times. He did well.

I found out last week that a few of my old Florence kids were gonna do the walk, getting their Associates Degrees. A brother and sister... I'd had the sister in class first, and then the brother, after his big sister graduated.



I got this shot of the boy, Jeremie Rohr, when he got his degree. I missed the chance to get a shot of his sister. She zipped through there too quickly.



After it was all over, we had someone take this shot. As you can see, I ditched the formal gear as soon as it was all over. We all did. They're all rented. The rental folks just have us toss them in a box and we jet out of there as soon as we can.

After shaking a few hands and wishing folks like Rohr here all the luck in the world, I hit the road for Mom's house. Denise and I met up there (she had to help run the show at the graduation). Then, after a visit, it was back to the house, and back into the sack for a few hours nap. Exhausting, being all edumicated and official, it is. I was pooped.

Anyway, it's always a blast to see the folks I've had in class going through their matriculation. Makes me feel like I'm really doing something good in the world. Who knows?

This Friday, Mark will get his Masters Degree conveyed to him by Texas A&M, Central Texas, but I won't be able to be there. Denise and I are flying to Nashville Thursday afternoon and then driving to Bowling Green, Kentucky to see her youngest daughter Lynn get her Masters Degree from Western Kentucky University. It's gonna be a busy weekend. I hope they've got Nashville dried out by Thursday. I'm just sayin'.

Anyway, I'll have stories to tell and pictures to show you when I get back. Have a great week, and congratulations to all the graduates out there. Get ready folks. You think you're done, but you're not. The journey continues. Onward and upward! Cheers!

Denise and I took my mom for a drive in the Hill Country Sunday.

We took her Buick Lucerne. It's a bigger highway cruiser than ether Denise or I drive, and it needed a road trip. It doesn't get more than a short trip now and then to the grocery store. We needed to blow some dust out of it.

Denise and I drove over from here, taking a big bouquet of flowers and a few cards. Mom was happy to see us, and the treats. She's been looking forward to this drive for a few weeks. I floated the idea a while back.

Soon after getting there we were piling into Mom's car and heading out.



Both of my womens are in the witness protection program...



They're averse to having their pictures taken. But that doesn't stop me at all. Mom says I'm like a stalker. She has NO idea.

We started out in Temple, drove down I-35 to Georgetown, and then headed west on 29 towards Burnett. Just before turning West we stopped at a McDonald's and got a snack, to hold us over. Three medium sized chocolate shakes would do the trick. They were wonderful, with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Delish!



Along the way, we saw that the summer flowers, mostly red, yellow and purple, are growing taller and supplanting the fields of Bluebonnets that had grown up and spread out along the roads earlier in the year. The Bluebonnets are still there, but Mom had a hard time seeing them. I think she had a good time anyway.

The summer flowers are just as pretty, particularly when they spread out into fields and along the roads. As we got closer to Llano, the flowers got prettier, and we even started to see some Prickly Pears now and then, with beautiful yellow blooms.

After about an hour and a half drive along 35 and 29, through lots of beautiful countryside, we finally reached our destination. We decided to stop for dinner in Llano at a local restaurant.



Cooper's is a famous old BBQ place in the Hill Country. Folks come into Llano from all over the state to get a bite of some of the best food anywhere. On any weekend, the place is usually packed.



I've been to Cooper's many times, so the routine was familiar. Patrons line up by the pit, an employee of Cooper's lifts the lid on the smoker and the patron picks their meal. As you can see above, I chose two pork ribs, a slice of BBQ Brisket (which was the sliced into cubes by the cooks), and a few links of BBQ Jalapeno sausage. The attendant finally asks you if you want your meat dipped in their special BBQ sauce. Duh?

Then you take the red plastic trey into the restaurant and hand the platter to the next attendant, who wraps your meal in waxed paper and puts a price tag on it. As you got through the line, you have the opportunity to pick out your choice of various other side dishes. I chose Cole Slaw and BBQ Beans.



The beans are complementary, in a cooker over by the wall there. Those two ladies are helping themselves. You spoon out your own helping, and can go back as many times as you want. They even have lids, so you can take some home if you wish.



Mom chose the same Jalapeno Sausage, Beans and Cole Slaw, and added Peach Cobbler. Denise went for the BBQ Pork Chops (above) and Potato Salad. Everyone was happy, and Mom particularly enjoyed eating good BBQ at a new spot.

After we finished our meal, the three of us got back into the Buick and drove on north towards San Saba.



My buddy John told me a while back that the flowers on 16, down by Llano were particularly beautiful this year. He turned out to be right.



Once again, but the time we had a chance to make the drive, the Bluebonnets were being drowned out by the taller grass and summer flowers. You can see the seed pods there, showing the transition the flowers are going through as our spring turns to summer.

The Bluebonnets had obviously peaked early, but it was a great day anyway. Mom loved the drive, and the food, and the flowers. So did Denise and I. Mission accomplished.

I hope you guys had a great Mothers Day too. If you wish, you can check out a few more pictures over at FlickR. Enjoy. Cheers!

Some folks just can't take a joke.

Happy Mother's Day, and here's a funny, and a good question.

My buddy Dave and I took about 15 of our Seniors to Austin on a field trip Wednesday.

We both teach down at Florence, and while I get to leave after about two and a half hours, he has to stay all day. He's much more experienced with things like field trips, being a full fledged high school teacher and all. I just pass through. Teach my college classes and jet out of there, headed for San Saba.

So when the kids told us they wanted us to take them on a field trip to Austin (the kids thinking 6th street), Dave (Willingham) said it would be cool. He does this sort of thing all the time. He took charge and set the whole thing up. I started feelin' guilty about that, bein' a slug, so one day last week I picked him up a big bag of San Saba pecans. He's happy.

The trip started at about 8:30 AM Wednesday, when the bus showed up and we all boarded it.



Fifteen senior kids showed up, out of eighteen that are taking my dual credit government classes. Willingham has most of these kids in his classes too. They're mostly good kids, but I was fully expecting someone to be bleeding by mid day.



Our first stop in Austin was at a little stop-n-rob on the UT campus. I stayed there with the kids while Willingham located our first attraction of the day. I started taking pictures there, trying to get some good shots for the school annual. The lady who is running the program to create the annual asked me to take pictures... As if I wouldn't be doing that already. She's never seen the blog.




Up the street and a few blocks from the stop-n-rob, we had a guided tour of the Harry Ransom Center. It's a cool little place that collects all sorts of artistic and cultural artifacts, storing them, displaying them and preserving them. They split us up into two groups and gave us guided tours through the stuff they have on display. Before we got going, the guide said "no pictures", so all I got there was this shot of the kids coming out after the tour. But it was a really cool place.

They had an original Gutenberg Bible there, which shocked the shit out of me. Then the guide showed us the very first photograph ever taken. The kids thought that was cooler than the bible. The guide then walked us through a series of displays covering all the different aspects of film making. They have a huge variety of artifacts, including a massive collection of memorabilia donated by Robert De Nero. they have the jackets he wore in movies like Ronin, Taxi Driver, and Casino. They even have the makeup model/life mask from his role in Frankenstein. They also have a dress worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind. It was cool to see all that stuff.



After that, it was on to the state capitol. Again, we had time to kill before the tour, so I took the kids around the front of the building and showed them many of the monuments.



My favorite monument is the one to Terry's Rangers, who fought for the South during the Civil War. At one point, one of the kids came up to me and asked if I was glad that the South lost that war. I said "Yes, of course." He said that he was too, but then said that sometimes he felt like a traitor to the state, thinkin' hat way. I told him that those sorts of thoughts are a natural consequence of being a modern southerner. We can dislike the Yankees and hate the South's cause, all at the same time. He thought that was cool.



As the tour began, we wound our way up to the Senate chambers, where the kids got a good look at some very famous paintings that hang in the room.



Here's a detail from the one above. It depicts the chaos of the Battle of San Jacinto, where Texas won it's freedom from Mexico.



After the capitol tour, we took the kids to the Schlotzky's, on Guadalupe. I hadn't been to one of these places in a long time. Here's the menu. I tried the Roasted Chipotle Chicken Sandwich, and the Asian Chicken Wrap. The wrap was better.



After eating, it was off to the Natural History museum, which turned out to be the most popular tour on the trip. It was also the place where my fears of bloodshed, I feared, were going to be realized.



This boy's a monkey. He was up there before anyone realized it. We all just stood there in wonder. Imagine, having the ability to run up a tree like you used to 40 years ago. I had a flashback from about 1970, Missouri. In time, he came down safely. Really, I was more worried about the tree.



Walking into the museum, I was struck by the massive skeleton of a flying reptile, the display covering half the ceiling. I'd never seen one so huge.



We only had thirty minutes to tour the place, which was a real shame. It turned out that we only had time to view the artifacts in the basement, which took the viewer from the beginning of time through the late Ice Age.



That's the Great, Fat, Hairy, North American Sasquatch, standing next to the lower leg bone of a Sauropod Dinosaur. And I always thought they were big critters. Hm, not so big.

Anyway, when the bell tolled, around 2:40 PM, we boarded the bus for the drive back up to Florence. We got back to the campus by 3:45, and I spent the rest of the day at home, workin' on these pictures. Go to the FlickR site and check out the rest of them. Some turned out pretty good.

Willingham and I turned out to be a great team. I hope we get to do this again, but next time I'll play a more active role in the planning and execution. I still feel bad about tossing it all on his shoulders.

Anyway, today I'll be heading over to the Expo Center in Belton to take part in the annual CTC Graduation Ceremony. I'll be wearing the cap and gown, and sitting with the rest of the faculty. It'll be fun. I'll take some pictures, so you'll get to see me in all my fuferaw.

Y'all be good, and we'll talk after. Cheers.

Denise thought I looked GOOD in these. Wadda you think?

Come on! You KNOW you love 'em. Yea, a golfers dream. Can ya feel me?



Yea, I make these look GOOD! Sniffle, sniffle. No, I didn't. But thanks for playing.

Again, foookin' brilliant!

Ok, that's cool, for when you're busy. But...



THIS is cooler. Go own. launch a few tennis balls. pretend your one of those longbowman at Agincourt. Wear that puppy the hell out. Nothin' but sacked out, snorin', the rest of the day.

Had fun last Friday.

My buddy Glen showed up at the house, having gotten off from work at the grade school where he teaches, around 3:45PM. Turns out the school is just down the road from here, so it was a quick trip.

We hung around the house for a bit, but then he changed into a fresh shirt and I got ready and we headed down to Austin. Turns out he accidentally left his cell phone at the house. That prevented us from being able to connect with a few of his old friends while we were down there, but it didn't keep us from havin' a great time.

The first place we stopped at was his hotel. He and his wife Becky had made reservations to spend the night at the local Hyatt. She works at a TV station up near Temple, and doesn't get out of work till late on Friday. So she would drive down later and then they'd meet up when I brought him back, after our fun. I drove him by so he could get a key and drop off his gear. Then we drove on towards the UT campus, looking for an old German Beergarten he knows about.

This was the theme of the evening. Glenn and his family lived in Austin twice, for a total of about twelve years. So he knows his way around a lot better than I do, and knows about a lot of fun spots. So I drove, and he acted as tour guide. We parked in state government parking (clear after hours) and walked a few blocks down to the Scholz Garten.



This place was cool. The history goes back to 1866, when a German immigrant set up the place during the Reconstruction era right after the Civil War.



The menu tells the story of the place, including the fact that while he was in Texas, assigned to the Union Army on the Mexican frontier, George Armstrong Custer and his wife Libby enjoyed meals and drinks here at Scholz'.



No tellin' if there were big, shade giving trees here back in Custer time, but I was sure glad to have them on our visit. They complemented the cool spring breezes and made our stay very pleasant.



The menu at Scholz' is diverse enough to please any palliate. You can see my choice right up there at the top right.



I went with the 1/2 lb. burger with all the fixin's. Bacon, cheese, and jalapenos, with fries and a good, cold, dark Shiner Bock.



Glenn went for the BBQ Chicken plate, with scalloped taters, fried okra and a corn biscuit.



You know I loved the burger, and Glenn said his chicken was wonderful. We were both happy campers.



As we left, Glen took me through the bar and restaurant so I could get a look. he laughed when I took out the camera. he's seen the blog, and he knows what a camera geek I am.

We walked back by the car so I could get my other glasses and pick up a new cigar. Then we walked on for about four blocks, past Longhorn stadium. That place is pretty majestic when you see it up close.



In a very short time we'd made it to the Bass Concert Hall, where Van Morrison was set to give a concert at 8PM.

We'd originally thought to come down with our women and enjoy the concert, but Morrison's ticket prices were ridiculous. So, in time, a plan came together where we'd just drive down and see if we could find a scalper to give us some tickets at a cheaper price. In the end, nether of the ladies wanted to stand outside the Bass Hall and surf scalpers, so Glenn and I decided to go it alone.

The first dude we saw had front row seats, and wanted $500 a piece for them. The next guy had seats towards the back of the floor section. He wanted $150. We'd decided early on that we'd pay no more than $40. In the end, we had two guys fightin' to give us their tickets. We ended up on row U, with seats 149 and 150. That means we were 21 rows back, and about ten seats in from the right isle. Not bad for $40, and the seat of our pants.



Once we got in, the ushers made it clear that there were no cameras allowed in the hall and anyone caught taking pictures would be ejected and the camera confiscated. You know that bummed me out. They watched us like a hawk. There was no way to hide it if I decided to take some pictures. Now and then, as the concert progressed, someone would open their cell phone and an usher with a radio on their hip would wade into the crowd and tell them to put it away.



In the end, as the crowd gave Morrison a standing "O", I took this parting shot. Thing is, Van was already gone. He'd walked off the stage while he and his band were still playing and singing, whisked away by stage people.

Not once, during the entire hour and a half concert did he ever turn and say anything to the audience. he stood with his back to us the whole time, in his white suit and fedora, dark glasses shielding his eyes, and only turned to us when it came time for him to sing.

And I use the term "sing" loosely. It was as if we'd paid $40 to hear Stephen Hawking mumble through a set of old Van Morrison tunes. What a disappointment. Morrison was rewarded for this aloofness and arrogance with wild applause and sporadic standing "O"s from some in the crowd. It was amazing, the way lots of people in the audience were slobberin' all over this asshole who, in turn, gave them such a shitty performance. It was the worst concert I've ever been to.

And the band was even lousy. They all stood and looked at one another through the gig, and hardly ever made contact with the crowd. Glenn said it was as if they were jamming in someones living room. They even messed up their timing at one point, getting off step and then back on in a few seconds. Glenn and I just looked at each other and laughed. It was amazing.

In the end, as Morrison walked off and the audience stood up one last time, Glenn looked at me and said "He ain't gettin' one from me." But then I stood up, to get just one picture. I wanted to get just one, just to have one of the ushers get in my face so I could tell them to fuck off and walk out. It didn't happen. That was disappointing.

We walked out to the foyure to see if wee could run into one of Glenn's buddies from the old days, who he said was planning on going to the concert. But we never saw the guy, so we eventually gave up and decided to go. I walked out and off to the cement ledge near where we'd bought our tickets from that scalper.

I'd finished about 1/3rd of a good cigar by that moment. Unable to take it in the hall, I decided to slip it in a corner of the wall. Sure enough, it was still there when we left, so I picked it up, blazed up and continued to enjoy it on the walk back to the car.

We decided, on getting back to the car, to drive up "the strip", along Guadalupe, past the UT campus. Along the way, Glenn pointed out a toy store that he thought I'd like. It turned out to be really cool.

Toy Joy, in the 2000 block of Guadalupe, is full to the rafters with every sort of gadget and toy you could imagine.



Walking through, I found something for Denise's little granddaughter, Payton...



As well as something cool for myself. You recognize this dude? He's guarding my stack of paid bills there on the desk. That's one of the critters you saw in Jurassic Park 3. It's called a Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus, and is the largest meat eating critter ever discovered. The original may have been as long as 59 feet, but this one is only about a foot long, with a working jaw. I had to have it.

We drove on from there, out of town and West towards Lake Travis. We went up RM 2222, and then onto RM 620, and then on to Comanche Trail, to find something called The Oasis. Glenn figured it'd be a great place to have a few drinks and chill out. Turns out though, by the time we found the place, they were closing. It looked really cool though, so I'll have to bring Denise down and check it out again.

In the end, I drove Glenn back to his hotel. By then, Becky was there relaxing. We both talked about how we'd had a great time, and made plans to get with our women and do it all again soon. I left him there at about 11:45PM and headed home. I crawled into bed around 1AM and slept soundly. I was pooped.

Well, that's about it. The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. I hope you guys had fun too. Cheers.

I for one think this is fookin' brilliant!