By Any Other Name

I've kept mostly quiet about the whole Miss California versus Perez Hilton. Mostly because it's just two kinda queens battling out views in the media and I don't think either of them does a very good job of representing their constituencies or communities.

I wish Perez would just shut up and go away. He's inarticulate, ignorant, and a fame seeker of the largest magnitude. His main claim to fame is a blog site that is just a venue of gossip and really, who cares?

Miss California - well, one only need to hear her open her mouth to draw a conclusion.

So now that Miss California has appeared in different states of undress, the battle heats up. Was this before her boob job? Or, after? Was she 17 or was she 18? Are the pictures too revealing for the today show? Does all this line up with her spokesperson status for the religious right? (Click on the title of the blog to link to the news story)

Blah, Blah, Blah.

Ok, now I wish both of them would just shut up and go away. Perez: You may have had a make over so your hair is prettier, but everything that comes out of your mouth is still ugly. And, you don't represent my community. So, please throw a disclaimer on what you say because people presume you're like every-gay-man. And, you are not.

Miss California: You can claim Christian morales and high ground if you want. But, really - by my estimation anyone who takes off their clothes for money and fame can call yourself a 'model' if you insist, but there are other names for it too. You may want to remember about that casting the first stone thing.

So, that's all I have to say about it.

The Death of an 86 Year Long Era

When I was a upcoming graduate of Del Campo High School, I'd saved a little money. I worked at the A-1 Grocery Store. It was a little mom and pop store in downtown Fair Oaks. Mr. Lee was a Chinese man who hired me because he thought I was "good boy".

Riding the bus home from school was never much fun. I didn't get along well with most of my class mates, and the confined space of a bus didn't help that situation much. So often I would walk the few miles home instead. When I walked, I often passed this home that had a car parked on the side of the house.

With the grass grown high in front of it, the headlights appeared like the eyes of a cat stalking me as I walked past. I always wondered why it just sat there. It seemed like a nice car with the exception of all the dust that had settled on it. From what I could see, it had a teal blue interior. A Pontiac. 1964. The year Pontiac's started getting really good.

The 60's certainly were the grand years for the brand. I don't know, looking back, if it ever got any better than that. Certainly years later, 1985, driving around in my friends Korean made, front wheel drive LeMans, it was clear that someone at Pontiac completely had no emotional connection to the 60's.

But I digress.

With just a few hundred dollars in my account from my work at the cash register and helping Mr. Lee with sides of beef I walked up to the door one day and knocked. I didn't know what I was going to say but the mystery of what seemed like a perfectly good car sitting there with GTO dual-hood-scoops had to be solved. The woman who came to the door was very nice.

She said her son Billy had parked it there when he left for college back east. He'd since decided he was not returning to California, having accepted a job out of school - also back east. He'd ok'd her to sell the car, but she just never got around to it.

I was not very good at the game I would later learn of being a disinterested buyer. It didn't occur to me to not tip my hand, that I really "had" to have this car. I think I might have even hopped up and down there on her front porch at the prospect of buying my first car. I think Mrs. Billy's Mom was fighting a smile as she anticipated my next question.

Might she sell the car to me?

"Well", she wondered, "The car has been sitting there for a while. It runs fine, but the battery may be dead". "I don't care" I said - losing any pretense of a poker face.

And, so it was, 1 battery for $29.99 and a hundred dollar bill to Mrs. Billy's mom, I was driving home in my 1964 Pontiac. I don't know if I've ever been as excited to drive a car home since. (Although my husband Rob might declare that he can't imagine me being more excited than the day I bought my first BMW convertible, or when I finally landed the rare 1989 Dodge Dakota Convertible that I'd wanted a long time).

Having that memory and also the one of the other Pontiac I drove (a 1975 Firebird Esprit with a 400 Cu Inch engine and a 4-barrel Quadra-Jet Carburetor) made it especially sad today to hear that the many years of GM mis-management have resulted in the demise of this brand.

Remember? Pontiac was supposed to be the 'excitement division'. Sure, many of the cars were knock off of Chevrolets but they were nicer, sportier for sure, and often times, I thought - far better cars. One of the things about growing older that I'm finding is the melancholy that comes from remembering good times when we didn't worry about things like the downward spiral of American manufacturing preeminence. Or that these products, which we emotionally connect with - like cars would be perceived as one of the pariahs of our social ills and economic collapse.

It's going to be harder as time marches on, I supposed, to fight the resistance to be one of those "old" people we used to make fun of. You know, the ones who'd claimed about how things were better in the 'good ole days'. I don't know if they were, or they weren't. But they sure seemed simpler.

I just know that as I watched that 1964 Pontiac hooked up to a tow truck to be taken off to Rancho Cordova Dismantlers that I had a feeling of sadness. And, I'm experiencing again watching a whole division full of history being dismantled. I was holding two one hundred dollar bills in my as the tow truck turned the corner. And, somehow that didn't provide any comfort - knowing that I'd made a hundred dollar profit from the price I paid for the car.

My hope is that all those executives at GM who have plundered this company for personal gain and have, for years, disregarded the brand value and historical trust they were charged with steering have just as little comfort counting their money knowing that the whole division has been hooked up to a truck to be taken to the wreckers.

But time marches on. Things change. Products come, products go.

Then again, right now - some high school student somewhere might be walking home looking wistfully at an old Hyundai. I just can't imagine - in my mind - that once he or she turns the key and pulls out on the road that the experience will be the same. No Hyundai of any year will be a 1964 Pontiac.

At the Turtle Pond

At the Turtle Pond
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

Rob and I had lunch on campus today. It's beautiful outside but
supposed to be a record high. It's not so bad in the shade though!

C!

Dark

It's Friday morning and it's dark and spooky outside. I had to turn the lights off to get the picture outside my office window, because it's so dark - all you could see was the reflection of the glass!

Over 3,000 lightening strikes over Texas in the last hour. It's wet outside.

Tomorrow I'm walking/running in a 5k. I know. Shut up - right?

Me - exercise? Two words that don't traditionally go together. But, it's a fundraiser for the Students in Recovery on campus, and I agreed some time ago that I would go. And, after all - a commitment is just that right?

I'm also at 187 on the scale which brings me to just 7 pounds to my next milestone goal of a 100 lb. weight loss. So, that's a good development. I just had an adjustment last week to the band, and I'm back to an 8cc fill. I had scaled back to 7.5 when I went to California and Michigan so that I could fly (and land) comfortably and not be as queasy when I arrived. It was nice stepping down to 7.5cc but in a period of 6-weeks, I didn't lose a single pound! Of course, I didn't gain any either - but after consistent loss, it was a little discouraging to see the scale remain the same, day after day. But, the loss has started again, and my goal is to lose the next 7 pounds in 4 weeks. Should be easy right? We'll see.

I've been struggling a little bit with having to step back to liquids for a while. The solid food just isn't settling very well - but it's a temporary thing.

We have a big weekend ahead (when don't we). We're doing dinner with friends on Saturday night and my new friend Daniel is having his friends from Houston. They are looking forward to meeting Rob and I as he has told them so much about us, and we're glad to meet new folks.

I'm sure it'll rain during the run tomorrow, but I guess I'll bring an umbrella. I'm not so worried about my time, so I guess if it turns into a stroll in the rain, that should be fine right? I've been Twittering and Facebooking more than blogging these days, but I'm not ready to give up on the blog (like you Mr. Rob) - so I'll just have dedicate myself more to taking a moment to sit down and write a thought or two. How can I expect you to tell me what's going on with you, if I haven't been willing to share?

I hope this latest note finds you well and I get to hear from you or see you soon. The hail has just started falling but it doesn't appear to be golf ball size, so I think we'll be ok. Take care!

Our new friend Mike

Our new friend Mike
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

Ok, mike from flint is a sweetheart. So-so Jenga player. :)

C!

A Great Weekend of Dallas Comes to Austin

 

We really did have the best weekend. And, managed to cram a lot in actually. We played Uno (those folks from Dallas are ruthless and have the meanest rules. I loved it!)

And, we drank coffee and hung out at Spider House. Well, until the birds became a bit much. Poor Steve shrieked like Tippy Hedron and nearly ran all the way back to Dallas from Austin. But, to be fair - the birds were a bit much!! When they began dropping bombs, we had to call it an afternoon.

We walked through SoCo and even found some new outfits for the folks for the upcoming 80s dance. And, we found the classic candy store! That was fun. But, no takers on the chocolate covered bacon. Can you blame them? Ewww.

Cassy and Kevin got some shots of the Capitol. And, we did the standards of Threadgills, Magnolia Cafe, and of course, Kerbey Lane. 

All in all - it was very relaxing and we made some great new friends. I hope they all come back soon. Maybe in June? But, we plan to make it to Dallas in May and now I feel so much better about the journey, knowing there'll be some familiar faces on the other end of the trip.

Hope you're doing well. Let us know!

The Drug-Addicted-Bloated-Face of Everything Wrong with the Republican Party

Well. How can we take seriously anyone as anti-American as Rush Limbaugh? Anti-American. That's what I said. No different than anyone ever accused of being a communist, socialist, extremist, or anything else that the Republicans hurled so easily in the last 8-years at anyone who didn't support the Iraq war, or support an indefensible George W. Bush.

Now the defacto leader of the Republican party doesn't even mask his disdain for anyone who doesn't agree with him. This goes beyond partisan differences and bickering. For anyone to say they hope that the President fails, before he's even had a chance to start - can only be described as "Un-American".

If the Republican party truly wants to reassert itself as a viable option to any other political ideas offered by the Green, Libertarian, or Democratic parties it's time for them to step up and denounce this man as someone who is NOT their leader. This week he has in as much asserted himself as so. When he says he has no desire to be the leader, we have a hard time believing this - since his actions and words instruct otherwise.

Rush represents everything that is failed about Republican politics. Just as we learned in the Milk movie (on the life of Harvey Milk) - you gotta give em hope. The Republican party is running a deficit in this area. It is, hopeless. They offer no solutions, no alternatives, nothing that moves us in a positive direction. They merely want to complain about anything anyone else proposes. And, now through their perennial hero, Rush Limbaugh, they have taken off their mask to reveal their true selves. The ugly part.

The result is an image of a party that is beyond just trying to find itself. It is, hitting a bottom so to speak. My hope is that it can't get uglier than this. It's time for the self-identified Ditto Heads, to step up and say YES - THIS MAN SPEAKS FOR US.. or denounce him for the lunatic the rest of America believes him to be.

I can tell you this much, with certainty. He is NOT helping your cause.

Mr Rogers? Or Next Leader of the Republican Party?

OK. I just listened to the Republican response to the President's address last week. It took me a while to get around to it. But, I had heard some negatives from some folks so before passing judgement on something I hadn't heard first hand, I thought that I should sit and listen.

This guy is a moron. Or, maybe he's super intelligent. But he comes across like one because he talks in baby-speak. I feel like I should have a plate of cookies, glass of milk and a fuzzy blanket curled up on my lap when he talks.

Does he really think people are that stupid? I mean when he says tells the story of the sheriff yelling in the phone. I had Mr. Rogers Neighborhood flashbacks. I envisioned the Governor of Louisiana wearing a cardigan and taking off his shoes.

It was really hard to get to the substance of what he said because of the kindergarten delivery. Awful.

But, there was substance in what he said. He condemned in his words "something called volcano monitoring". What? I wonder if Governor Jindal replaced the word "volcano" with the word "hurricane" - if he'd think it was such an inane expendture. Come on! Do, folks who AREN'T in LOUISIANA deserve less protection? Or, maybe those folks who are dumb enough to live next to a volcano and persist on building in the path of a lava river get what they deserve? But, shouldn't they be at least afforded warning that disaster is about to strike? Or, is that reserve for those in the Big Easy?

I think he ought to be ashamed of himself for his insensitive comments, unthoughtful conclusions, and moronic delivery. If THIS is the hope of the Republican party (some have even floated Jindal as a potential rival to Obama in the next Presidential election) the state of the Republican party has a lot more in common with our economy than I thought.

Which is to say, we all think it's bad - but the truth is it may actually be much worse than any of us believe. Poor republicans - they may never, in this generation, be a viable alternative to the democratic or any other party.

That stands to reason. George W. broke the world - why wouldn't the republican party be included in that?

A great Austin Weekend -Back on the Road

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.

A weekend here in Austin. Back home after a great California trip. 

Last year we had a challenge getting the Dakota to pass the Texas inspection. Which, of course, made no sense to us since it just had passed California smog, which is supposed to be stricter.

I was worried because the technician told me last year that it only passed "barely". And, it would likely not pass again. But, we did have the fuel injection system replaced since then, so it passed. Which, I should have suspected it would. But, it still didn't curb my surprise and when the technician handed me the paperwork, I looked down half expecting the same "fail" that I received last year. When I scanned the paperwork though, I didn't see it. So, I asked "did it pass?" and when he said "sure". I said..   "IT DIDDDD?????".

He looked sort of strange at me.

I'm just happy to be back on the road.

Round Up Weekend in Austin Texas

We had a great time with our friends Steve and Dave who visited from San Jose, CA. They brought friends from San Francisco and Seattle with them.

We went to the capitol building and looked around Austin. Unfortunately the eateries were not cooperating this weekend.

What usually is great fare, was a little poor this week for some reason with some of my favorite places having an off day. :(

There was Magnolia's with cold pancakes and even colder butter. So cold, the butter would rip right through the chilly cakes. Not a good representation of Magnolia Cafe. Usually the food there is hot and good. Then Hyde Park Cafe, known for their french fries could not seem to put together an entree that didn't have onions. Our friends that day all deplored onions (not me. I love em). And try as they might, they couldn't seem to do it. But the worst was Artz Ribhouse. Wow. That place just plain sucks. Do not even bother. They had no ribs, no chicken, no brisket, no turkey. Just burgers. Not really Texas BBQ do you think?

We ventured out and had a good time though. Here's some pictures.

Here's David and Steve in front of Ann Richards - smiling and then for some reason when I had them step over just a few feet they lost their smile under the picture of dubya (he has that affect on some people)

Georgio and Rob enjoying BBQ.

Take care.

Some of the boys outside of Ironworks