Not Another Christmas Post!!!

Since I mentioned the Christmas light thing in Oklahoma in the previous post, I thought I should give it its own entry here.

Go north from Paris on US 271 to Hugo - take the big road in front of Hugo and go right. Drive for a little bit, then turn on the Fishtale's Road (95? 93?) and go north until it ends at a T intersection with another road. Turn right and drive forever (you'll think you've gone too far). When you see the beauty shop, turn around in the parking lot and go back, you missed the turn. Its a left (well, a right coming from the beauty shop) - go north until you see the blaze of glory. The company that does all this is called Allen's Monuments - it's a tombstone maker!

Here are some pics:

Now I Can Finally Listen to Christmas Music Legitimately

It's that time of year - now that Thanksgiving is past, the Christmas holiday season officially begins. Now I can legally annoy my coworkers by playing all my Christmas music I loaded on my Zune I got this week to replace my dead mp3 player. I only loaded Christmas music on it - nothing else until January 2. Jim Parker loves this time of year, especially when I play the Jingle Bell Dog song on repeat, over and over again - its so easy to get a rise out of him, ha ha.

Of course, Christmas now is very different from Christmas past. Back in the day, the holiday season included many different 'traditions'. We'd usually put up the lights either right after Thanksgiving or early December. This involved climbing up into the attic and finding all the old boxes with Christmas decorations in them - usually took awhile to do this. When we first lived in Arlington, we had some cool blue lights, but Dad didn't like them :) so we replaced them with red ones to outline the house. One year we got some lights to place in the shrubs in the front yard, red white and green. I would always try to mix the green and red ones so the shrubs would look like a holly plant with berries at night - well, that was the theory at least. Dad would always put the lights up on the house - one year he fell off the stool while Robin and I were inside and hurt his ankle or something. From the way he tells it, you would have thought we could hear his cries for help and deliberately left him outside to freeze in the cold weather. It didn't happen that way, of course.

There was a giant plastic light-up Santa I always liked - we'd put it on the front porch in front of the bedroom window. I wonder whatever happened to it? In later years, I would put lights around the front two windows to outline them, which looked cool. One year we decided to make a Christmas tree near the curb by hanging a strand of green lights in a tree - with mixed results.

Finally, the time came when Dad let me put ALL the lights up myself, the way I wanted to. The large red lights went up on the house just like always, but the smaller red, green and white lights got arranged differently in the shrubs - I tried to keep all the colors separate for some reason. One night Karyn came over and remarked that as she pulled in the driveway she thought she'd come to the Mexican Embassy (red white green).

Don't get me wrong - it sounds like I was doing all the work. Robin helped out too, as did Dad when I hit a few snags. So it was more of a joint effort than you'd think by reading this - just wanted to put that disclaimer in before I get some nasty comments, lol.

After the lights were done, the time to do the tree would be upon us. First, that meant a trip to Kennedale or Mansfield, somewhere in that area, to the Christmas Tree farm. Now, in early years, we had a fake tree - not aluminum, a regular fake tree. And that was cool, but the real trees were so much better. First, after arriving at the tree farm, we'd get a hayride out to the field of trees, with saw in hand and a cup of hot apple cider. After roaming around for hours ;) we'd find the perfect tree (ala Clark Griswold). Usually at that point Robin and I would become bored and wander off, leaving Dad to cut the tree down himself. Then we'd take the tree back to the farm house, where they would put it on a shaker to get any needles off, then bag it up. Mom would look at the craft section, I'd get another cup of cider, and then we'd leave for home to set up the tree.

Bringing the tree inside and placing it in the tree stand always meant getting sap on you - and that sap didn't just go away with a little soap and water, no sir. But at least it smelled pine fresh. Mom would spray some water and baby oil mixture on the tree to keep it from drying out, and making it smell so very good (pine baby oil doesn't sound that great, but it is - wish they made an air freshener with that smell). Then it was time to decorate the tree. First I would put on the old Christmas records (in early early years - later on it would be the Christmas CDs). I can still recall many of the ornaments: the astronaut Santa, some of those make-it-yourself-in-the-oven sparkly plastic stained glass looking ones, and a whole lot more than I feel like describing. There was a small nativity scene - a 3d manger and baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph that I always hung on the tree and stuck a blue light inside, so it glowed like the moon was shining, or so I thought.

And then the decorating would be over - and as the days went by, the presents would pile up. Robin and I would gather the presents around us on several occasions and examine them one by one, trying to figure out what they were (or just see how many we had!) One year I was falling waaay behind Robin - I thought it was going to be the Worst Christmas Ever, but it turned out somewhat differently - more on that later.

One year, for some reason, Robin and decided one tree just wasn't enough, so we decorated a ficus tree in my room (or was it Robin's? I forget) with lights and red balls. Oh well, it looked cool, for a ficus Christmas tree.

So then the great Day would approach - finally it would be Christmas Eve! Now, originally, so I'm told, Mom and Dad and whoever else got together one C.E. long long ago (before I was around, and way before Robin was) and had some sandwiches and finger foods for CE dinner instead of a meal, because the next day would mean a huge dinner. And then it became a tradition - and THEN I came around and it turned into a major ordeal for Mom, ha ha. Christmas Eve would go something like this: we (meaning Mom mostly) would cook all morning and afternoon - just appetizer stuff, mind you, but ALOT of it - and we'd finally be ready to eat (officially) around 3 PM. I would make the sweet and sour hot dogs in a mustard/plum jelly sauce, Robin would make the fruit and dip, and Mom would make everything else. Some peeps would come over, but it was mostly just us. After the 6:00 news (which gave a Santa update, showing his position in Northern Europe, making his way to America), we'd all pile in the car and go looking at lights, and I'd bring a cup of Mom's hot spiced cranberry punch along. We'd drive all over Arlington - past the neighborhood which decorated as the 12 Days of Christmas (each house was a different day, pretty cool), past Santaland near Young junior high, past the house in Tiffany Woods that looked like the house from Christmas Vacation, and alot of other places. Then we'd come back, feast some more on the delicious food, and tune in to the 10 PM news on channel 5 (KXAS) to watch Harold Taft (unti he died - Robin probably won't remember him, but I do) give the weather forecast. And at the end, Harold Taft would break in with the latest Santa report - he'd go to the radar, and Santa would be shown flying into DFW. As a little kid, it was so cool - that meant I had to go to bed quickly before Santa came! And that was the awful part - I never could go to sleep, I would be so excited.

One year, I woke up around 2:30 AM - and couldn't go back to sleep. So I crept into Robin's room, woke her up, and we both got Mom and Dad up - Christmas at 3 AM!!! We had all the presents open and breakfast eaten, and it was STILL DARK outside. Dad was ready for a nap by 9 AM. I was told never to do that again. Now, the only way I'd be up that early for anything is if I just stayed up all night - my how the times change!

Of course, the holidays mean very different things to me now. We still do the C.E. party-like thing, still go see lights after eating, and I still take some of Mom's punch with me if there's any left. Okay, so maybe everything hasn't changed! But now, instead of driving around town to look at lights, I go to Oklahoma, near Rattan, where this monument company (for graves!) decorates with over a million lights - that's where I took the photo above. It's pretty cool, and free! (See pic to the right, also - nothing says Merry Christmas like a festive tombstone!) And I go caroling with friends all over town - that's always fun. One year, we were headed to an elderly lady's house (she was too disabled to go to church much) and Dennis got lost and we went to the wrong home - this strange woman opened the door and we burst out singing like we meant to go there. Good times. And then another year, we were at a VERY old man's house (I'll call him J.R. to protect his name, but some of you loyal Readers out there will know of whom I speak), and right before we started singing, Colby remarks to me that J.R. looks alot like Yoda - all old, wrinkled, and maybe a little green. Now it wasn't a nice thing to say, but it was kinda true - and I couldn't help but laugh and laugh and laugh, because he DID look like Yoda.

Two years ago, I rang bells for the Salvation Army, along with Lindsey (Colby's oldest brother). We were assigned to Sears - which faces north - and guess what blew in the day we rang? A fierce blue norther - dang it was freezing!!! Lindsey brought his guitar, thinking he'd play some Christmas songs. Nope - too cold for that. We had no gloves, but Sears was happy to sell us some! Finally our relief came (Selena, pictured here with Lindsey) - we were so cold, we'd taken to ringing the bells with our hands stuffed in our pockets - the bell would barely stick out. It looked goofy, but it kept our hands warm - well, not warm, but not as cold.

Jeez, this post went on forever - all I wanted to say was Christmas time is here, officially. Oh well, I digressed - get over it ;)

Thanksgiving!

The big day is finally here, ha ha. No, not Christmas - it'll be here soon enough. I'm talking about Thanksgiving, of course (also known as 'Turkey Day' to some). In a few minutes, Mom and Dad and the Martins (Dale, Dee, Kinsey, and Jessica) will be here. We'll be eating some old favorites and some new additions from Dee's kitchen - the Maple Pumpkin Pie sounds really good (the secret is maple syrup in the whipped cream). Robin and Jason won't be here this year - it's a bit further to come here from Virginia than it is from Houston, but they will be missed - I think I'll take a group photo and send it to them instead of the traditional e-card or whatever.

'Traditional' ecard??? How the heck did that happen? When did the internet become traditional? How quickly we get used to new things. The first time I actually used the internet was in 1995, at the computer lab in college. It's only been 11 years since then, but it seems like the web has been around for alot longer. Weird, huh?

Anyway, finally we're going to have a normal Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in several years (three, I believe, but don't hold me to that - I'm not Mr. Statistics). Oak Park (meaning Marion) did a community Thanksgiving meal where everyone was invited, and the food was free. We helped out every year they did it, even when I wasn't really going to that church anymore - it was fun. I don't know why they aren't doing one this year, other than Marion not being there anymore (she's moved to another church, among other things) and basically that means we are having a NORMAL holiday today - although it was fun doing the community dinner, it just wasn't the same.

Ah, I hear doors slamming - must be the Martins (I know Mom and Dad won't be here this early, lol). Yes, I hear Kinsey coming down the hall - guess it's time to go. Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving wherever you are!

Arizona - Now It Can Be Told

I have decided to do a recap of my trip out west earlier this year, as a sort of photoblog entry here, because....well, I've just been meaning to do it. So here's the story of how it all came about, and the journey itself, lol.

Back in late 2005, I was over at Marion's (a friend of mine from my old church) one night - I forget why - oh yeah, she had asked me over to tell me she was going to set me up with a date at some point (which turned out less than stellar, but that's a story for another time). Anyway, we got to talking about places we've been. Marion used to live out in West Texas, and she mentioned Carlsbad Caverns was a cool place to go. I thought it would be as well, but I don't like to take trips by myself. Well, her son Colby (the one who shadows me much of the time, lol) chimed in - "Beej, you and I could go over Spring Break!" My first thought was.....uhh no. But we talked it over, and it started sounding like fun.
Anyway, Shelton, Colby's older brother (who is old enough to drive, muy importante!) also wanted to go, and so he got added to the passenger list. As the weeks went on, we kept adding new destinations: the Davis Mountains, Palo Duro Canyon, Ship Rock, Roswell. At the Superbowl Party over at Dennis', Robert overheard our plans. By that time we were thinking of going as far west as the Four Corners. Robert told us that as long as we were going that far, we might as well go to the Grand Canyon. Suddenly, lights went off in my mind -- visiting the Grand Canyon is one of the items on my List Of Things To Do Someday. Going on the Price Is Right is another, btw. Anyhoo, everything gelled at that moment - a grand journey it would be!
So we began all the planning and stuff for the trip. Colby and I had been going to Bingo on Thursday evenings since January, and we put all our considerable winnings toward the trip (it was probably close to $1000 or so, minus the cost of playing). Colby would think of things we would need on the trip, and we'd go shopping at WalMart on the weekends when they were on sale.
Finally, the big day was here. I took off early from work that Friday, drove out to Marion's, loaded up all their gear and whatnot, and we finally left around 4:30 PM or so. Driving along US 82, we stopped for this pic (looking back east) and a stretch break.



We continued on, through Wichita Falls (where we ate at the historic Carl's Jr, the same CJ I ate at on the band ski trip to Colorado many moons ago) all the way to Amarillo. Along the way, we listened to Johnny Cash - not much else at all. Actually it was Johnny Cash and music from Walk The Line, too. However, at one point (and I have it on video for proof), someone started playing My Humps (ugh, I can't stand that song) and we did the singalong music video thing. Funny to watch myself, horrible to think of someone else watching it.
We made Amarillo that night, found a cheap hotel (Econolodge, I think), and stayed up singing along with Shelton playing his guitar. He and I do a pretty good I Walk The Line, complete with harmony, ha ha.
Somewhat early the next morning (Saturday 3/11) we head out again. Just outside Amarillo, right off I-40, is the Cadillac Ranch.

(Shelton walks in front of the Cadillacs, while Colby is perched on top)

The story behind this (or so the legends go) is that Stanley Marsh was getting a divorce. Being a rich man, he had a collection of Cadillacs his soon to be ex wife had her eye on. To keep her from getting them, he had them buried like so, and turned it into a roadside attraction. You're even expected to bring spraypaint and graffiti the cars! We didn't have any, but fortunately other people let us borrow a can.

We left the Cadillac Ranch and headed for New Mexico. At the border, there was an interesting sign at the Visitor Center.

Watch for snakes???

Leaving the Visitors Center (where we loaded up on plenty of free maps and such) we continued along I-40 through Albuquerque, then northwest towards Farmington, where Shelton was born. We spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express, by far the nicest place we stayed at the whole trip.
From Farmington, we set out the next morning for Ship Rock.

It's very isolated, well off the beaten path, and we finally made it. As I parked the car, we noticed the car rocking back and forth - the wind was so strong, it felt like it would lift off the ground and fly (or roll over, ouch!). We got out and immediately discovered what wind chill really means. Oh man it was cold and GUSTING!!

Anyway, here is Ship Rock - I had to literally brace myself against the car to take this shot, what with the hurricane force winds (well, maybe I exaggerate, but they sure were strong!)


And here is a scene looking to the left of the previous photo - you can kinda spot Shelton on the right, center.


After quickly returning to the vehicle and turning the butt warmers to full power (i.e., heated seats, but Colby calls them butt warmers, which is a fitting description too), we got out of there, since we were on private property (see the fence above - we went inside it). Set course for Colorado!


The plan was to get a room in Cortez, CO, then go to Mesa Verde and spend the day there seeing the old indian ruins. Nature had something else in mind. The moment we crossed into Colorado from New Mexico, a snowstorm appeared out of nowhere. Apparently, CO had already gotten LOTS of snow. Anyway, as we travelled down the highway, the snow got so bad I had to pull over at this little trading post.

You know the winter storm is bad when the icicles are horizontal. Yikes!! Anyway, it was fortuitous that we stopped there - this was the only place we found pinion nuts for Dale.

After leaving the trading post, we drove on to Cortez and found a nice (!) place called the Aneth Lodge. From there we went straight for Mesa Verde. You drive up this mountain highway, fairly steep for this Texas boy, lol, and then we saw this sign:

Not good. It turns out they were shutting the park down for the day - too much snow or something, the ranger lady told us. So scrap Mesa Verde - we went back to the motel room for a bit (meaning nap time for some of us, ha ha), then went to dinner at a little italian place which had the best italian food I have ever eaten - and our waitress was a double for Dicie Rue - I mean they could be sisters at least, if not identical twins!! But she was nice, so they aren't identical (rimshot!) Seriously, though, we've talked about a quickie weekend trip back to Cortez to see Mesa Verde AND to get some more of that italian food, if we can find the place again! Anyway, after dinner, we went back to the motel room and spent the rest of the evening playing poker, listening to Shelton play Johhny Cash on his guitar, and having a good time. The police showed up around 1 AM - something was going on at another room. Never did get a good look at what was happening, but it was exciting - like watching COPS but live!

We left Cortez the next day and headed for the Grand Canyon. We saw some interesting rock formations, such as this one:



Along the way, we stopped at the Four Corners national park (actually I believe its on Navajo land or something like that)

I wasn't too impressed witht the monument itself - yeah yeah, stand in four states at once, I get it. And it didn't take long for the "Hang on a sec, I have to head over to Utah for a bit" jokes to wear thin. Very thin. But the best part of the F.C. is the scenery - here's a sample:


From there we set out again for the Grand Canyon. We got a room in Flagstaff at the 'quaint' motel called the Wonderland.

I need to post the video I have from the Wonderland - too funny to even describe here. That will be my next project, lol

Anyway, the next day, we set out for the Grand Canyon.

Look carefully - you can see the snowball someone (Colby) threw into the Grand Canyon.

Words and pictures can hardly describe the scenery - so I won't really try.There was one funny incident, however. Portions of the lookout we were at had rails, while there were areas with no rails at all - one false step and down you go. Colby was running from Shelton, who had a snowball in his hand (looking like he was going to hit Colby) and he stopped about 4-5 feet from the dropoff (with no rails) and I heard this woman next to me roar in a screeching yet stentorian howl, "Don't do that! That's so stupid!!!!" She scared the you know what out of me. Later on she laughingly apologized, saying she had a fear of heights and thought Colby wasn't going to stop in time - we laughed it up with her

After leaving the canyon, we stopped at Sunset Crater, and also Meteor Crater.

To take this pick, we had to reach the upper observation deck. Colby was alreday up there for some reason, but Shelton and I ran up the stairs to get there quickly. And about halfway up, we both stopped, gulping down air like a thirsty man gulps water - forgot about the high altitude, low oxygen. "I need my puffer" Shelton said in an old man's voice.

At Sunset Crater we got chased out (well, not really) because the normal place where you pay the entry fee was closed - a sign said to go to the Visitors Center to get a pass. We never found the Visitors Center, but I did collect some cool rocks along the way. As we were leaving (still well within the park), one of the park police (or ranger as they are also known) passed us by, then whipped around and followed us. We left quickly without incident, thankfully.


Along the way, we stopped at a trading post with a giant jackrabbit:



We had many many more adventures and funny and just plain weird stuff - too much to go into detail here. You'll just have to watch the videos when I get them posted to Google or Youtube at some point.

The plan for next year is either New York City or Canada - Canda will be cheaper but New York is New York - much cooler, imho. We'll just have to see how it goes!

Christmas Already...

I've visited this website for the past two years to watch and CONTROL this guy's (Alek Komarnitsky) Christmas lights. It's a pretty cool setup - the first year I clicked all the buttons and watched via Alek's three webcams as lights would turn off and on. The only problem was...it was a big hoax. It seems all Alek did was take pictures of various combinations of lights on and off, in different weather (cloudy, sunny, snowy, etc) and at different times (dusk, night), then wrote a script that would deliver the appropriate image depending on the time of day, what you had clicked off or on, and the weather. Pretty complex hoax, and all in fun.
So the next year (2005) Alek decides to try it for real - setting up actual controls so you can truly mess with his lights (and he has a ton of them). Anyway, I happened to check it out today, and I watched him and one of his kids as they put up lights and decorations outside their house. It's kinda strange, watching someone in Denver in real time from here in Paris - the internet sure is cool, isn't it? Anyway, check this site out in a few days when Alek has the lights and controls going - pretty cool, imho.

Update

Gee, it sure has been a long time since my last post. I know some peeps like to post every day, even if they don't have much to say, but I prefer to wait until something interesting happens or I have an idea about something - I don't post just to post. Having said that, it's time to post simply to post!

Last weekend I tried to view the Leonid meteor shower. "Tried" because an hour or so before the peak (10:45 PM CST Sat night), high clouds rolled in, blocking the view. Ooooh I was miffed! I brought my camera and DVDcam back inside and got on the computer instead. About 1:30 I went back out just for a quick view - and guess what? The clouds were gone. I checked the weather back on the computer and it turned out that the high clouds rolled through very quickly - if I"d gone back out a half hour later they would have been gone. Argh!! I missed the peak, but other reports say they Leonids weren't that spectacular this year (certainly not like a couple of years ago!)

I let Colby drive my car recently. We went out on the back roads - I wanted to get some fall pics and he had asked me about maybe getting some driving time in, so I caved and let him. Like I said, we stuck to the back roads so there was little if any traffic. We started by driving over the dam at Pat Mayse, then turned onto some roads I've never been on (nor had he). We turned left and right randomly, and after a while wound up in --- BONHAM!!! ---. Yep, we drove all the way to the next county on back roads and never even realized it. Oh well, it was a slightly interesting trip.

Speaking of trips, we have decided to change our destination for the Great 2007 Roadtrip. Instead of New York, we think Canada would be a cooler (ha) and a cheaper destination. Drive up I-35, see the sights, and so on. I wonder if you need a passport in these post 9/11 days - better check into that.

I bought the supplies to build an Alpha Radiation Visualizer - you take a cheap webcam, a smoke detector (to supply the small amount of americium, a radioactive element), mount the americium inside the webcam so the radiation bombards the sensor, then place the webcame inside a box with copper flashing to minimize outside electrical noise, then enjoy the cool sights - I'll be putting it together Thanksgiving with Kinsey's help.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, the Martins are coming over, which should make for interesting times. We aren't doing the church Thanksgiving meal like the past three years or so - this will be a normal Thanksgiving meal, with friends and family only. I believe I am in charge of the sweet potatoes and something else - maybe I'll be inspired to cook something wonderful, lol.

Psycho!!!

My sister recently blogged about a personality test she took some time ago. And one thing led to another and I found myself taking an online JUNG test - here are the results.

creative, smart, idealist, loner, attracted to sad things, disorganized, avoidant, can be overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings, prone to quitting, prone to feelings of loneliness, ambivalent of the rules, solitary, daydreams about people to maintain a sense of closeness, focus on fantasies, acts without planning, low self confidence, emotionally moody, can feel defective, prone to lateness, likes esoteric things, wounded at the core, feels shame, frequently losing things, prone to sadness, prone to dreaming about a rescuer, disorderly, observer, easily distracted, does not like crowds, can act without thinking, private, can feel uncomfortable around others, familiar with the darkside, hermit, more likely to support marijuana legalization, can sabotage self, likes the rain, sometimes can't control fearful thoughts, prone to crying, prone to regret, attracted to the counter culture, can be submissive, prone to feeling discouraged, frequently second guesses self, not punctual, not always prepared, can feel victimized, prone to confusion, prone to irresponsibility, can be pessimistic

What's amazing is just how close these descriptors are!! My favorite is highlighted in red - now I know why I always secretly rooted for Darth Vader (or Palpatine in the prequels!) and how disappointed I was in Return of the Jedi when Vader kills the Emperor - WUSS!! Ohh, sorry, anway, this is my weekly introspection report, signing off!

My Civic Duty Part Deux

Huzzah! I was not picked for jury duty! Huzzah! Huzzah!

My Civic Duty - Yay!!!

I have jury duty today. I've only been summoned twice before - once while I was in college (automatic exemption, yes!) and then another time two years ago, but my jury pool was dismissed for some reason, so I got a free day off, ha ha. I really hope today goes the same way - I know we should all serve because it's our civic duty but I just really have no desire to sit in a courtroom for hours on end - if I want to do that, I can sit in front of my computer and at least DO something. Perhaps this is just typical Gen X apathy, but I really really don't care about serving. Plus, I am sick and tired of the whole democratic process right now, what with the inundation of political ads on TV and radio - gaahhhh!! If I hear anything about Mark Homer of Kirby Hollingswoth one more time I will spew!!

And that's my rant for today. Thanks for your time ;)