Spring Break Shenanigans, Part the Last

And so we end the Photo Saga. Look for a new post... whenever I feel like it, really. That's the whole point of having a blog :-)

We took Al to see Crazy Heart his last night in town - the four of us were pretty fairly split between "loved it" and "well, that was boring." Personally, I gave it 5 stars as an interesting character study. One thing we could all agree on, though, is that the movie theatre is a fun place to be late at night:
But what has become of the Nautilus? Did it resist the pressure of the maelstrom? Does Captain Nemo still live? And does he still follow under the ocean those frightful retaliations?

I promise you... that if I wanted to kill you, I would resort to more direct means.

Why don't you quit cryin' and get me some bourbon?

Hey they forgot to wind the sundial.

Spring Break Shenanigans, Part the Third

...cont. from previous post.

That evening was a Bob Schneider concert at Threadgills.

Charlie Mars opened and, while I enjoyed his show, it just wasn't on the same level as Bob Schneider and the Texas Bluegrass Massacre.

I'll be honest: I've never really listened to Bob Schneider's music. In fact, at several points a guy walked by wearing this shirt and my only thought was, "wow, that's an awesome top."

It wasn't until Alek went up to get a photo with the "random dude" that I realized who he was.
Heh, oops.

It was an absolute blast, though - the crowd's energy was amazing, and there was some serious talent up on the stage. As an unexpected bonus, they recorded the whole performance. If you ever listen to the CDs, at the beginning of Track 10 he says something like, "extra credit to the people in the back!" Yeah, that would be those of us on the top level of the risers, by the back fence. Whoo!

We even made friends with the complete strangers in front of us, which reminds me that I owe them some video...

Exhausted, but happy.

(It also has to count as a miracle that we did not fall off the risers while dancing, especially when we competed to see who could dance while standing on the highest step.)

Tomorrow: the last Spring Break post!

Spring Break Shenanigans, Part the Second

There was a delicious afternoon spent out on a sailboat. The weather cooperated to give us a gorgeous day. We spent the first hour learning nautical terms, tacking like pros, and taking turns at the helm. The rest of the time was spent doing nothing, really - we ate lunch out on the deck and then admired the view.

...to be continued (*cue dramatic music*)

Spring Break Shenanigans, Part the First

Spring Break was great: low-key enough that we didn't get (too) exhausted, but not enough to be boring. Alek flew in for the week, and it was great to see him - although I think he was more excited about getting out of the cold weather than anything else.

There was plenty of eating out to be done, mostly places we hadn't been before or haven't visited in a while. We hadn't been to The Oasis, for example, since before it burned down. The tradition of announcing and then applauding the sunset is wonderful. Also wonderful? Unattended signs in the parking lot.

Other fabulous dinner spots included AlborzFonda San Miguel
and a Greek place I've forgotten the name of that had the friendliest wait staff ever.

...more to come!

New post to come.

For now, discuss:

Three semesters of Latin, for this

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clarke

My brother and I got new phones for Christmas, and I upgraded our shared cell phone plan at the same time. More minutes, free texts, blah blah blah, plus free photo messaging. Which I completely did not see the need for at the time. Until:

Last night, we were celebrating my grandmother's 72nd birthday when someone mentioned how sad it was that Alek couldn't be there.

Time spent snapping a quick shot of Gigi before she could blow out the candles on her cake and texting it to my brother: 10 seconds

Time spent geeking out over how I just sent a photograph halfway across the country using the magic of technology: 5 minutes

Time spent getting ribbed about it by the rest of the family: the entire evening

I'm also loving the free texts. My brother and I had a rather hilarious pun fight going yesterday. I won, as I often do, by breaking out the faux Latin. I think the setup was something about Merlin's cell phone plan - text quandam textque futurus: the once and future text

TKO

I almost didn't read this book.

Tom Schreck talked about his stories in a Bouchercon panel on characters and their relationships with alcohol. His detective, Duffy Dombrowski, is a beer-drinking (ok, guzzling) social worker-cum-boxer who listens to nothing but Elvis. That's new, I thought at the time, but boxing's not my thing. The only sports I enjoy watching are hockey and soccer (and don't even get me started on people who think golf is a great spectator sport).

However, Schreck's discussion of the worlds of social work and writing caught my interest. I must have walked past and picked up the copy of TKO for sale in the book room about ten times. Boxing aside, the story looked good: the back cover promised both humor and a serial killer.

Sunday, at the free-for-all book bazaar, I discovered that Schreck had a table set up. Well, when you can get a book you've been considering for free, signed and handed to you by the author, you go for it!

I feel terrible posting this in January, because I received my copy of TKO last October. And I can't even use the classic "oh, I just finished the book" excuse, because I devoured the entire novel on the flight home. It was an incredibly fast read, without having a plot that's too dumbed down.

The main story follows a case assigned to Duffy Dombrowski, of a man (Howard) recently released from prison, who was convicted twenty-five years ago of killing a number of his high school classmates. The man disappears just at around the same time students from the local high school start turning up dead, leaving the police convinced that Howard's guilty and Dombrowski convinced he's innocent. Further complicating matters are a number of subplots, including girlfriends, boxing, booze, and a self-appointed "apprentice". I was pleased to discover that the sport didn't overtake the main mystery, and I found the descriptions of boxing - from training to actual matches - surprisingly interesting.

I loved how quickly the book zipped by, and did find it funny as promised. The writing in places could have used some more work, and there were points where the plot seemed to flag, but overall I was drawn in to the story. If you're interested, you can see excerpts on Schreck's website.

Also, I feel compelled to point out that TKO is actually second in what is currently a trilogy. The first novel in the series is On the Ropes, and the most recent is Out Cold. Sadly, I haven't had a chance to read either yet.

[On a completely unrelated note, my birthday is in July. . .]

I'm a Bachelor!

Took me long enough, didn't it?

But the important part is that I did it!


And just for the record (from UT's website):

major RHETORIC AND WRITING
SECOND MAJOR SPANISH

Yet More From the Files

I'm going to make this a recurring thing until I a) run out of scans to post or b) have other things to blog about.

Today's gem - an excuse note for class. My dad's notes became legendary among the office ladies in high school; I imagine they were a nice treat after 400 "Please excuse X so they can Y" letters a day.

I wish I'd remembered to get photocopies of more of them:

Text:

3/23/04

Dear Warden:

Please allow Nicole [REDACTED] to leave school at 10:50A today, not because she really needs to or anything, she just wants to frolic on the front lawn.
Nicole will be back by noon-thirty . . . that is, unless THEY get her.

Thankew -
[REDACTED]

More From the Files

I'd probably get more done if I didn't stop to scan things in.

On the other hand, I'm more likely to throw away old papers if I have a digital copy of them somewhere. That's how I trick my inner pack rat.

Today's offering:

On the back -

NIKI
No. 5
Age: 09
Weight: 80
Height: 50 IN.
Position(s): FULLBACK
Team: Jets
Fav. Pro: LARS SJOENFJORD

Yes, that last bit is printed on there. Apparently my father was the one to fill out the questionnaire for the cards.

Stars and Stripes

Most of what I own is still packed up - my current project involves taking my things out of the cardboard liquor boxes, donating anything I no longer want to Goodwill, and repacking everything in sturdy plastic containers. (Which, by the way, are a complete steal at HEB right now: $4 each).

It's been a trip, as I keep coming across old school documents that have somehow followed me around all this time. Case in point, this extra credit assignment from 1996 (click to read the large version):

My handwriting over the last 14 years: largely unchanged.
My writing style over the last 14 years: thankfully changed quite a bit.
My signature over the last 14 years: evolved to no longer include little hearts over my i's. I use stars now.

(Actually, I take that back. My handwriting now is actually worse. Amazing.)

Ikkicon of the FUTURE

2010 hit the ground running - for the second year in a row, my best friend convinced me to attend the local anime convention. Although I am not particularly a fan of "Japanese animation and pop-culture", there are always new things to be learned, and Ikkicon [4] did not disappoint.

I skipped the Friday activities, since at our house New Year's Day is a strictly-pajamas, sleep-until-noon sort of event.

Saturday and Sunday were quite busy:

We sat in on Mock Combat for Cosplay, a two-hour panel run by Chris Ayres. If this panel shows up again I'm definitely jumping in, because it was incredibly fun. Ayres demonstrated how to make it look like you're throttling (or groin-kicking, or slapping, or punching, or arm-twisting) someone without hurting your partner. Even better, he's a fountain of funny and interesting stories of stage trickery, which I find fascinating.

This apparently doesn't hurt at all.

But it looks painful, doesn't it?

This is one of my favorite shots, although I wish I'd gotten video of the kidney-kick.

Another memorable panel was Cosplay Chess, which is just about the geekiest thing in the universe. The floor is blocked out into squares, characters are placed, and two people play a game of chess, moving the characters around the room. Points are, of course, awarded for ingenuity and cleverness in "finishing moves." I don't know who was dressed as Doctor #10 and Rose, but The Doctor produced an award-winning display of sorrow when Rose was bumped off (and just two moves from checkmate - isn't that always the way?). Our team (white) won, and poor Darth Vader was destroyed by a seething mass of characters.

So, apparently it's difficult to take an interesting chess photo. Look, if you want great board game imagery, go here. I'm just a nerd with a camera.

Nice to see the boys getting along.

We later wandered into the artists' and dealer's areas, where I was coerced into parting with my cash. I had decided ahead of time that I was only going to shell out for "experiences" or "charity" so I got two Sereniteas from the Austin Browncoats table. 1) How could I turn down a Nathan Fillion-inspired tea blend and 2) proceeds go toward encouraging more kids to read.

There were about twenty different blends. The woman had me at "you can smell as many of them as you like!"

Right around 5pm the first afternoon, things went blurry. As it turned out, I was simply vibrating at a faster speed than the rest of the world. Possibly due to the event laughingly called "lunch", where I had enjoyed melon bread, chocolate koala bear cookies, Calpico with aloe, and what I think was mochi.

We also stopped in at the charity auction, which unfortunately did not have many convention goers in attendance. Of course, that didn't stop the signed Serenity comics from rapidly soaring above my price range. I did, however, shell out for a dvd of Trinity Blood signed by about 14 different people - which definitely fell within my charity/experience plan. The money goes to Kids Need to Read, and I've never won a live auction before. It was thrilling!

As much as I enjoyed Mock Combat, if there was one panel that was worth the entrance fee all by itself, that panel was A Very Merry ninjaHELL! Last year's left me a little cold, but I laughed my ass off this time - particularly during the traditional "we need to stall because the equipment hasn't shown up yet WHERE THE HELL IS THE RIGHT CABLE" segment.

What else? Lets see. . . we took a little time for photos, because Ivy had a great costume and the Hilton has crazy decorations.


You think this is nuts? One of the rooms had a lighting arrangement on the ceiling that looked like a Viking ship made of diamonds.

We also exchanged gifts! Ivy got me a Doctor Who pop-up book, which is exactly the sort of thing everyone wants and is too embarrassed to buy for themselves. I got her a mug designed by Wil Wheaton and a box of Earl Grey.

Look, ma! Nerds!

(Alternate caption: when you've known someone for over a decade, your brains eventually synch up. Half the fun this weekend was laughing at each other's jokes, taking pictures of toilets, and bringing up embarrassing things we both did in middle school.)

2010 in Media

Movies

1. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
2. The Good Earth
3. Armageddon (not the one you're thinking of)
4. Brooklyn's Finest
5. Chocolate
6. Dead Bodies
7. Little While Lie
8. Care Bears
9. Bad Lieutenant (ok, a third of it)
10. Noises Off!
11. The Sixth Sense
12. New Moon (for the lulz, honest)
13. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
14. Inception
    

Books

1. Mr. Campion, Criminologist
2. We
3. Gimme More
4. Powers
5. The Satanic Nurses
6. The Eyre Affair
7. Alanna Series
8. Pledged
9. The Practice Effect
10. Mort
11. The Saint's Getaway
12. Moving Pictures
13. Tales of Unease
14. The Science of Sherlock Holmes
    

TV Shows

1. The IT Crowd
2. Doctor Who: The Caves of Androzani
3. Campion: Look to the Lady
4. Campion: Police at the Funeral
5. Campion: The Case of the Late Pig
6. NCIS
   
7. Leverage
8. Sapphire and Steel, Adventure 2
9. Black Books
   
10. Never Mind the Buzzcocks (random episodes from various years)
11. MacGyver
    
12. Being Human, Season 1
13. Armstrong & Miller Show, series 1
14. Primeval (all)
15. Life on Mars
16. Sherlock
17. To the Ends of the Earth
18. Assorted episodes of QI
19. The League of Gentlemen
20. The Office (BBC)
    

Plays/Shows

1. Deathtrap
2. Misalliance
3. Taming of the Shrew
   

2009 in Words and Pictures

As I sit here thinking over the last 12 months
I realize that 2009 was good to me. If you've been following this blog, you know that I graduated from the University of Texas, had fun with my family, started a new (and better) job, was accepted into the graduate Teaching program at St. Edward's University, enjoyed a lot of performances by local theatre troupes, attended my first Bouchercon, met one of my favorite authors, took a vacation where I got to spend an entire day on the beach, read an insane number of books, and discovered "new" musicians and BBC shows.

However, I wanted to share a little something more this New Year's Eve.

Fortunately, I had my camera with me for most of the year
so I can share the highlights with you.

2009 was the year I finally won our annual Christmas Slap-Game contest
and also the year I finally realized I'm in love with The Proclaimers.
2009 was a year for spending time with family:
Alek finally caught that pesky Christmas fairy.

We tried something new - fish 'n' chips, shepherd's pie, and Woodchuck cider - at a pub.

We fought over who had the best holiday photos.

We .... stood in front of trees together.

2009 was a time to go back to the classics
And to try new things.
We had bad pet news
(Omar was diagnosed with cancer)

And good pet news.
(The lasers are now 100% operational!)

We celebrated birthdays
and enjoyed life's little luxuries.
2009 gave us surprises,
narrow escapes,
and plenty of time to reflect.



And, of course, 2009 will live in our memories as the year Dad and Alek invented Overhanded Bowling.

Here's saying "so long" to 2009, and a hearty "hello" to 2010. I hope everyone enjoys the hell out of the new year - I sure plan to!