Sam discovers his inner viking, & notes

Spurred on by the evil cat ...

He's not going after anything at the end. He's just running and screaming for the joy of it. I haven't acted that way since my senior year at North Texas.

Workee work! etc.
Some of you may have noticed that even the paltry standards of updating this blog have fallen off somewhat since the beginning of the month. The thing is, I realized last weekend that I had maybe bitten off more than I could chew with three college classes, the internet teacher certification thing, and the job of keeping this house so clean you could eat off of any surface of your choosing.

I've since implemented the no-damn-fun-anytime-whatsoever action alert plan. No more library books, a hold on my Netflix queue, no weekend trips, and web surfing only when I couldn't otherwise be studying.

I've made some progress after earlier falling behind, but this is going to be a semester-long thing.

Sick
It took us about a week and half, but everyone has more or less recovered from Sam's cold, though I still have to cough to clear my throat. Sam's nose seems to be kinda-sorta cleared up. My primary impression of the experience is amazement that a 20-pound baby could produce that much mucous. Unbelievable.

Outdated things
Had another I'm-really-old moment at UTA on Wednesday.

I'm sitting in Union's Palo Duro Lounge, a place I like to go to almost solely because of the name, and was reading the comics in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Chuckling about once for every 10 strips, and otherwise thinking that it seems like comics used to be a lot more edgy and funny. It's like something took the oxygen out of them in the last five years.

Then I heard two guys laughing. They were downloading clips of "Family Guy" to their phones and playing them to each other.

Hico quadruplets
I understand this means four.

FORT WORTH — Tina McLean is planning for a big, big crowd at home in Hico this Thanksgiving, including three new sons and a new daughter that weren’t around last November.

I didn't recognize anyone, but it's not like I really know anyone.

The story goes on to talk about how the whole town is getting ready to welcome the family back, how people are lining up to pitch in.

And it made me think that, if this happened in the suburbs, you could maybe expect your neighbors to start waving at you, every once in a while.

POTUS talks farm
I guess I should start this out with a political disclaimer: I haven't talked politics here. I realize the image of some people will cause others to react like dracula seeing a cross. And, while I'm fascinated by politics, I've never really felt like I had much to add to the national chimps-flinging-feces-at-each-other conversation. I also want everyone to feel welcome here.

So, for the time being, I say I won't mess with your dudes. Don't mess with mine.

With that in mind, I present a nifty little bit of family history:

As part of his duties working for A&M and the Agrilife Extension Service, my brother in law, Andy Vestal, has to go to an emergency operations center in Austin any time there's a hurricane in the Gulf.

So, when my parents switched to Fox news to check in on coverage of Gustav (the one before Ike), they happened to catch Vestal chatting with President Bush in a background shot.

Here's Andy's account of it:

The President and I actually talked about AgriLife Extension and had a visit about our family farms in Hico and in Crawford just minutes away from each other. He wanted to know a bit about the expected rainfall for fall grazing and filling the tanks.

The President of the United States, talking about the Hico farm. That's pretty cool.

Mike Leach dating tips

Since Tech doesn't have a serious game today ...



I just keep waiting for him to crack a smile or give some indication that it's a joke. Nope, he might as well be discussing Colorado's defense or the U.S.'s economic policy.

Fall falls, notes

A hurricane isn't all bad.

This hit me last night, as the temp cooled down to 60 degrees for the first time since April. Yep, those ultra-low pressure systems are good for sucking up all of the hot air for hundreds of miles around.

Around Fort Worth, it was almost like a holiday. Everyone was outside -- taking the kids to eat, running up and down the block like an idiot, etc.

It was such a pleasant evening, I tried to take a picture of the full moon with my camera.

Nope, didn't work out too well.

Ike-AH!

Of course, I note the good things about the hurricane only as random thoughts after seeing and worrying about the state of Southeast Texas. I spent a year down there and had a pretty good time.

The damage is going to cause a lot of heartache, but I'm glad that the death toll hasn't been disastrous.

I did get a little annoyed this morning when hearing about some of the rescued people from Galveston. First off, I hear that about 40 percent of the population did not leave, even when the government was practically begging them to go. Even considering the island's history with hurricanes.*

But hey, if you're willing to take your chances, that's ultimately your business. I get irked, however, when I hear radio reports that the people who decided to stay put are now complaining that rescues are taking too long. And you expected what?

Sick at last, sick at last

Sam's nose started running Sunday. Last night, it was running so bad that he had to labor breathing while he tried to sleep. He didn't get much rest, and neither did mama and daddy.

Today he's running a 102 temperature, and just left to go to the doctor.

You hate to see your kid sick, but, on the other hand, it's kind of relief to get it out of the way. Eleven months old, and Sam hasn't had any kind of sickness to speak of since he's been born. It makes you worry that the first time he catches something, it'll be really, really serious.

So, it's a relief to see this happen, though it was a bigger relief to see him doing better by the time he and mama finally left for the doctor's office.

In the meantime, Meredith's nose is already running. And I feel like I already have a target on my back.

*If you get a chance, read Isaac's Storm. It's an excellent book about the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

Sam movie

We don't have a normal video camera, just the movie function on our digital photo-picture-taker. Anyway, with Sam walking pretty good now, we decided to try a quick movie.

And then he ate the camera. And everything else ...

Videos

Both of these are from Jeremy.

The first is a Klingon song. It's most likely about looking forward to glorious death with honor in battle.



This is basically what Bob Dylan's show would be like, if it involved the eating of live animals.

The next I can't embed. But it's worth a look for those who love far West Texas. The San Antonio Express-News did a film short on Terlingua -- easily one of the greatest places in the state.

Here it is. Enjoy a three-minute vacation.

You'll notice a dog in the shot. I remember that dog. Nice fella.

Notes

From the male grapevine
The best thing about any fantasy football draft is watching the chatter from people you haven't seen in years. (I stay quiet, which is what everyone would expect.)

Yesterday, while I picked players for my team Love Shack*, I heard the news that a reporter I worked with a long, long time ago was pregnant -- again -- and still unmarried. As I hadn't heard of pregnancy no. 1, that kinda freaked me out.

Usually when you hear news of old acquaitances, it's about a new job or move or kid or something that fits into what everyone expects out of life. You file the news somewhere and maybe remember it, maybe not. When they're having difficulties ... I dunno. For me it's like I'm instantly back in the newsroom or at a bar sharing a beer with that person -- far removed from the harsher things life is going to throw at people.


The nuerotic dog
So I took Ginger and left Jimbo here last weekend when I drove to Lubbock. Meredith said he behaved well, but pretty much just moped around for the three days me and the other dog were gone.

Since I've been back, he's gotten better but has still been kind of tentative with everything he does. Last night, I found some bumps on his chest, apparently his glands are swelling and he's fighting off an infection or something.

This is a high-stress dog. When we first moved to Fort Worth, he got some kind of stomach bug, went three days without eating, and spent two weeks on antibiotics.

Damn dog, doesn't understand relaxation techniques.

Bluff Dale, the latest small Texas town to go all Fredericksburgy

The Star-Telegram ran a feature on Bluff Dale, a town that's about 30 minutes away from Hico, and my wife is excited.

They've got a vineyard and winery! A gourmet-casual restaurant! Other stuff!

"I want to go," Meredith said. Then, thinking again, "Of course, now that it's been in the paper, it'll be infested by yuppies."

And, as my buddy David J. used to say, such is life. Small towns like Bluff Dale and Hico haven't been able to prosper in the old way -- when everybody had a 200-acre farm and grew cotton and cows -- for decades.

So, people who spent their life avoiding other people who used words like "lifestyle choice" now have to offer their own lifestyle choice of small-town quaintness in order to keep making money.

I'd be more melancholoy, but this place in Bluff Dale offers duck quesadillas, and I'm dying to give that a try.

Talking football, because my mind thought up things to say and I might as well write them down
After listening to the Tech game Saturday, I'm left vaguely unsettled. I don't know this team. It sounds like they could be good, but you're not going to get anywhere with a personal foul against you every three plays.

It's like they want to prove that they deserve the rankings and hype they've received, so they go out and either try too hard or not hard enough. I can only hope they clean themselves up quickly.

As it is, Texas and Oklahoma are already looking sharp. And so is Missouri, come to think of it. Tech had better focus, and ignore all the temptations and distractions that life in Lubbock can provide.

As far as A&M -- whoa. Didn't see that coming. The funny thing was reading the message boards and seeing everyone already calling for a new coach. C'mon, it's the first game of a new system. Ark. St. ain't that bad. Still, I think A&M's going to have a lousy season. I also think they are going to scare the bejesus out of Tech at Kyle Field.


*The song was on my mind, plus I had this nifty photo of a shack back in Hico that I want to repair. No, nothing nefarious has happened there. At least, not that I know of. It does look kinda creepy, though.