Damn Dog

Ok so as you may or may not know, I own two dogs. They are pretty stupid, not being mean or anything I'm just saying. People are a lot smarter... well sometimes I wonder. You see other people in my neighborhood have dogs too. I know this because I keep going out and catching them on my property. What usually happens is dog enters the back yard, I catch the dog, I give the dog to my 13-year-old to go take to wherever the dog lives. I'm not mean spirited about it, but if my dogs ever got out, and ran to whoever's house... without me knowing about it... I would be mortifed.

I know you can't hold everybody to the same example, but I know where my dogs are, because they cost me a lot of money. And believe it or not, I love them... even though they are dumb, and more than likely won't save me when/if I'm attacked by a bear or fall down a well, they are mine (that goes for cats too) and I aim to take care of them. Not let them run loose, not let them get into someone's flower bed, and certainly not let them defaecate on somebody else's lawn.

But again, I'm not like other people. But other people are somewhat pissing me off with their lack of responsibilities. And I'll let them know it. So much so that is why I let my daughter take the dogs back. Because I would become a scourge of the neighborhood, because I would hold everyone up to the same standard that I set for myself. Isn't that awful?

The Weekend

I always had dual lives, even and especially when I was a child. When the weekend would come around, all my friends would disappear, I was going to my dad's house. Every weekend he would come and get me. He has never missed a date. I think that's commendable. But there is a backside to that story. My mother worked Baylor shift, that is weekends and attended school during the week. So while I thought my dad loved me and everything, it turns out that my mom did too.

While I was playing and having a good time, my mom was working and going to school. Not that I shouldn't have had fun, I was just a kid. But again the dual nature of me is a little skewed. With time I see the difference. But then again, I don't want to take away from what my dad did... or didn't do. He was there for me, and he made it known that no matter what he would continue to be there for me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was loved, but in different ways by my parents. And all of this is kind of hard for me to explain, because now I have kids, and I want to show them that I love them, But I'm trying to love them in both ways. And that doesn't always make it out, the right way.

I try to reason and sympathetically feel for them like my mother, but at the same time let them grow, knowing I'll always be there for them like my father. I'm sure everyone goes through this, it's just two different loves, and they are not the same, but the love is there. So which kind is it going to be? Nobody knows...

Rock Out

This song has been out there awhile. But it's on Guitar Hero, and much by accident my daughter absolutely loves it... my three-year-old daughter. So sit back and enjoy "Lazy Eye" by the Silversun Pickups.

Making a report

So my daughter, the 13-year-old, is doing reports and posters and what not. Which is fine by me. But walk with me if you will, into a time when all you had was a typewriter and a library card, that's it. No Google, no internet, no nothing. And researching a topic at the library usually involved copying the information by hand or running through microfiche after microfiche with a pocket full of dimes to print your info. I cannot make my child understand... there used to not be a computer in almost every home. There was no SpellCheck or Synonyms replacement tool. You had to do it yourself... and God help you if you made a mistake, you had to start all over again or use corrective tape. Kids these day have no idea how hard giving a report used to be. Really. No. Idea.

Classic Film Friday: Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Ok, first off, I have to admit something to you... I didn't know that this film was the inspiration for the TV series Alice. I had no idea. That said, this movie is so much better than the TV series and you really don't get that it was the inspiration until you see Mel (he is the only person to play in TV and film) or at least it didn't for me.

So Alice (Ellen Burstyn) is a singer, and a mother, and a widow. She really doesn't know how she will make it... as she was widowed recently. So she sets off from New Mexico to Monterrey. But never quite gets there. She makes a stop in Phoenix, because she ran out of money, and she falls for yet another abusive man (her husband was abusive too). So she moves on again, to Tuscon and this is where a lot of the TV show gets it's inspiration. There is Mel, and Flo, and Vera. But they are so much better portrayed. Life is unedited. And a little cuss word or a snappy comeback is life.

This movie also stars Kris Kristofferson as David, the man that Alice eventually settles with. It also stars a young Jodie Foster, but it is nothing more that a side roll. This is a movie about how imperfect the world is, and yet we all live in it and try to make the best of it. It really doesn't have an ending, because really what does? This is real life, or at least somebody's version of it.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

Lake Warren Trip

So where the hell is Lake Warren, and why did you go there? Well, I don't know why, but the state park is just south of Hampton. It really doesn't offer much, unless people scare you. Then this place is right up your alley. Plus, sometimes the journey is better than the destination. I took the long way home (instead of I-95) and went through Estill, and other smaller towns down Highway 321.

Here is a big pine... X2

This is the "coast" of Lake Warren... kind of mossy

I saw ferns too...

In various stages of growth.

If you go, this .3 mile trail is much more satisfying than the 1 mile trail to nowhere.

Trail... To Nowhere.

We saw this, I thought we were inside the park, but maybe not.

This is where Lake Warren ends.

A "sea of green"

This is in Estill, I guess it is grandfathered in that whole no tobacco ads?

Here is the water tower of Estill. Which was probably worth the whole trip.

Just Being Honest