The World Would Be A Better Place

I think that the world would be a better place if every ceiling in every home was painted sky blue. I really can't imagine a more peaceful and calming color. I would also think that this color would be hard to replicate, but it's such a nice color.

Spring break has been temporarily canceled. Miranda and I won't be able to make it anywhere until she's done with school. That's okay with me, its just that it seems like I've been going non-stop for a really long time and my brain hurts. There's only so much information that I can handle and I think I've reached the tipping point.

By the way, I am making every effort to make my t-shirts logo free. Except for the occasional Tech or Tulsa t-shirt, or incredibly awesome Hanson shirt, I am going logo free. I have found that Gap is making some very comfortable t-shirts and they don't have tags, which is an added bonus.

Duk mentioned that he and Mo might begin thinking about coming down to venture visit and would insist upon a visit to Lone Star Park. Their facilities are top notch and here's the 2006 calendar.

The Morning News has a tournament of books. Don't ask me how they determine a winner, but I'd be willing to bet that these are all pretty good books.

Rage

I miss Rage.

Rage was my first puppy dog.

Rage was a puppy from Snickers (a chocolate male lab) and Jewel (a black female lab) and she was the runt. She was born on July 1, 2003 and I knew right away which one I wanted, she was the smallest one of the litter and she was full of energy, but incredibly sweet, even as a puppy. I took her home with me in early August and that first night with her, I remember sleeping on my parents tile floor with her. It was her first night away from her siblings and her crying tugged at my heart strings. I always thought the strangest thing about her was that she could drink a ton of water and drank water all of the time. Eventually, this ended up being one of her defects that explained her downfall, but more on that later.

My Mom lovingly looked after her during the day, until I could get home from work, and if my Mom had to work she stayed in her cage until she was big enough to stay outside. Once she was bigger whenever I would come home, the first thing that I would do is let her out of the gate and she would literally race around the yard one time and then come to a screaming halt once she got within two yards of me.

I cannot count the numerous nights that I would come home early because I knew that Rage needed companionship and I needed hers. I have always been more sympathetic towards my dogs than a normal person. The nights that I would stay home, Rage and I would stay in the little house and she would lay right next to me as I would lay on the couch. She was always content to simply be with me and that was an incredibly comforting feeling.

Things seemed to be clicking along and I brought Rage with me whenever I could when I would work on the house during the weekend. Once my wife and I got married we were one big happy family with Zoey, Olive and Rage.

About a month or so after we got back from our honeymoon I started to notice that Rage's tongue was not as red as it usually was and she seemed very lackluster. I took her to the vet a couple of times and he couldn't really figure out what was wrong with her. After a couple of weeks it became incredibly apparent that she was not well and I told the vet that she needed help and I didn't know what to do. The vet ran IV's in her twenty-four/seven and one day there was a glimmer of hope when she seemed to be getting better. The vet said that it appeared that her kidneys were starting to fail her. He recommended that I take her to College Station because they have the best in the business. I let my boss know that this was something that I needed to do and if I could save her life then I had to do it. We drove to College Station, she was incredibly weak and could barely stand-up. She was emaciated and I'm sure that every other dog owner thought I was mistreating my dog by not feeding her. I cannot tell you how many times I cried that day as I drove her there. On my arrival in College Station and after the visit with the vet there, he basically told me that she had little time to live. Her kidneys were disfigured and were never formed completely. Most likely because she was the runt. This is why she drank water all of the time, to compensate for the kidneys that were failing her. I cried more on the way home. I stopped at a gas station to let her go to the bathroom and the clerk asked me what I was doing with my dog and I explained to her that I was trying to save her life, but I could not. I broke down right there on the counter, my head in my hands trying to stop the sobbing but I couldn't.

That night I knew that I had to put her to sleep the next day. Miranda and I moved the spare bed onto the floor and she and I slept together much like we did that first night, except this time I knew that there would never be another opportunity to be with her again. The next morning I took her for a drive. She stuck her head out of the window like she always did and then I took her to the vet to put her to sleep.

I had never cried in front of my wife before, but for two or three straight days I cried uncontrollably.

In fact, as I sit here tonight writing this post I cry about how much I loved her and how much I miss her.

She was my Puppy Dog Rage.

Staring Contest

A funny thing happened last night when I was throwing my dinner in the microwave. Blue was laying near the wall that separates our kitchen/dining room from the living room and as I turned around Blue and I locked eyes. Now, I am not dog psychologist, but I have always heard that you should never let a dog win a staring contest. Supposedly, it's a sign of weakness or dominance, depending upon which side of the stick that you end up with, with. Do I know if this is accurate? Absolutely not, but it can be entertaining. So I had set the microwave for two minutes and sure enough the stare contest was on. Normally, when I stare down a dog it can take 10 seconds or less, but this time she wouldn't budge. I am glad that dogs don't differentiate between a cracked smile and "mean face" because I actually started laughing as the seconds kept ticking away. At this point it is becoming incredibly silly, but I refuse to lose to Blue. What seemed like a life-time (it was actually only 1 minute and 38 seconds) she broke away and I am still the staring champion of my home. She was a good foe, but she simply didn't have a chance.

Repetition

Of all things I was listening to BaD Radio during lunch yesterday and they had Coach Ortegal on and he actually said something somewhat profound. The key to success is being able to do the mundane and repetitive things with the same type of vigor and concentration level which you had the first time you did those things.

With my job, it seems like I do much of the same things over and over again. Circumstances change and that's when the job become interesting, however, being able to look at real estate contracts or wills or corporate formation documents have to be looked at with great detail and care. If you miss something or if you do not have the same type of care that you would have with a $50,000 deal versus a $2 million deal then you're not doing your job.

The thing about having this attitude is that I at times take for granted the knowledge that I learn over the years and then you feel like you can gloss over these details, however, it's that knowledge that makes you better at what you do.

Focus.

Concentrate.

I've Created A Monster

Holy crap, I feel like the evil Satan who has spawned a number of new blogs. I do not believe that I invented the internet, nor do I fee like I invented blogging, but check out the number of new blogs recently started by my K-town krew:

Chris H.'s and his wife's blog.

Ashley B.'s blog.

The K-Town Shizzle (Ben, you must check this out, it's much more entertaining than my blog and if you want an invite, I'm sure I could make that happen).

More importantly, I am glad to see everyone writing. Sharing a little bit, nevermind what anyone else thinks. By the way, here's the site where you need to go to which will publish your blog, Blurb.

I am planning a fairly long post about Rage sometime later this week. I have some thoughts I need to get out of my head. I think that this was all brought about the other night when, for the first time since I had to put her to sleep, I brought out some of her toys. That was a really big step for me.

Linkys:

Zach Braff is funny and he addresses the Mandy Moore rumors as well as being the next James Bond girl:

"I am going to be Vesper Lind (the new Bond love interest). After the success of certain films this year, they have decided to "shake things up" this time around. And so Bond will be gay. I play Vesper Lind, a German spy who loves trip-hop and raves. I assassinate my victims by forcing them to drink the fluid inside of glow-sticks. James and I meet when our hands accidentally touch during a "Licensed to Kill" seminar in Dusseldorf. We were both reaching for an "Ain't Misbehavin" CD that kills an enemy after he/she listens to the Act One curtain closer. Not very effective as a means of assassination since the target would have to make it through some really mediocre numbers in the first act, and like I said, it only works on "he/she's" which aren't very common in the spy business outside of Thailand. Can't say much more it's all very hush-hush..."

A Duk's Life, In 400 Words

Duk is a very good friend (on the right) of mine and he has taken my writing assignment to heart. Below is his biography. It was posted in the comments, but I thought that it belonged on a much bigger stage. Good job.

Born May 21, 1973, to the daugher of a farmer/carpenter and the son of a preacher, in Aurora, Missouri. My dad worked at the shoe factory, and when he brought his work buddies to see me, they kindly patted him on his back and said "he'll grow out of it". Shortly after my birth, we moved to our dairy farm, between the Mayberry like towns of Hurley and Crane. The solitude and hardness of farm life has affected me greatly. The family farm required a team effort, and I remember working a lot, even as a young child. This was the way of life, and it was sometimes very hard, but our family was very close. Two sisters, hellions really, five years on either side of me. My childhood memories are mostly of farm life and our vacations. Not every summer, but often enough, the whole family, including the extended family, would load up and head to Colorado. We would camp at KOA campgrounds, always excited when we stayed at one with a pool. Goodtimes. Highschool was difficult, I didn't quite fit in to small town life, and accept that my big mouth was not at all helpful. I loved basketball and baseball, the only two sports at Crane. Being part of a team suited me, still does. Oh, I was very sheltered, and did not get into any trouble in highschool, honor roll, scholarships, church 3 times a week. I was pronounced in the womb to be an attorney, and this has always been my goal, however, for I time I believed I was going to be a racecar driver. The shelter was removed and my life changed dramatically in college. First year was at College of the Ozarks (Hard Work U), where each student works on campus everyday to pay his/her tuition (1991). After one year, I decided that this place was too small, and decided to follow my Honduran girlfriend to Southwest Missouri State University(1992). The relationship did not last through the summer, but the move to SMSU was a good one. I immersed myself in Greek life, which has a lot of team concepts interwoven into its fabric, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I would be remiss not to mention my summer employment in Branson, Missouri. I was a lifeguard at a water park by day, and a ticket salesman by night. I worked 70-80 hours per week, which paid mostly for my schoolin at SMS. Somehow, I still managed to experience a lot of life during the summers. At the end of my undergrad career(so I believed), I met my wife in the basement of my Fraternity house (1996). I heard a voice outside my door, talking to my dog "Daisy", with some familiarity, and commenting about feeding the dog a junior whopper the night before. This voice did not know that I had spent the day cleaning up dog shit. My first words to my wife were not especially kind, but when I saw her I became smitten and I knew that it was her. Somehow, I convinced her to marry me, and we tied the knot in August 1998, moved to Tulsa, and started law school and nursing school the next week. Marriage has not always been easy, but it has been extremely rewarding. In the middle of the first semester of lawschool, I discovered that there had been an oversight on my advisors part, and indeed I had not received a diploma from SMS. Usually, my luck is not good, but somehow my advisor corrected the situation and I received my BA in December of 1998 from SMS. This story mystifies and amuses the law school buddies. Also, amazing was my recollection that I did not have a traceable address for nearly 3 years of my life. Truly, law school was a magical time. It was difficult, but I met a group of men, and we seemed to go together like "peas and carrots". These men are still my closest and best friends, despite the existence of time and space. It was a motley crue, but it was as much a team as I have ever been on on. Life since law school has been good, but tough. Learning the practice is harsh. I am eager to be a parent, as is my wife. I believe the forced delay in being a parent will make it that much sweeter. We live outside town in a subdivision. I long for the days to be back in the country with some "elbow room". I often feel like I'm waiting for something, but I'm not sure what it is. I think I am waiting on my child now. For now, we wait with our dog Daisy, and try and enjoy each other as much as we can. I am certain I enjoy her much more than she does me. I can apologize for the rambling, but that is partly who I am.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

I finally finished this book last night. It is a wonderful book on perspective. It is about a child who is autistic and his neighbor's dog is murdered. The book follows this child as he tries to solve this murder. The point of view is solely from his perspective. Something like this can teach all of us that we all see the world differently and we all cope with our problems differently. The most compelling part of the book was that this child did not like to be touched, but yet his parents long for that emotional and physical interaction with their child, an interaction that they know that they will never be able to have. I really liked this book.

Honeymoon - Part II

Part of the resort.


Pretty bird.

The happy couple, self-portrait.


No need to caption.


See above.

Honeymoon - Part I

Taken from the front steps of the resort.


Boarding the plane after the "luggage" fiasco".


The beach outside the resort.


Pretty birds.

The newlyweds, a little red.

I started thinking that there were no pictures from our honeymoon and that needed to be remedied. The honeymoon really started off with a bang. We wake up early, we get showered up and leave the hotel, which was at the airport. We load onto the bus to take us to our terminal with some kids going to Cancun. They could not have been more than 18. The kids exit at a terminal before ours and we exit ours and sure enough whenever we go to check our luggage my wife realizes that she the bag she is carrying is not hers. One of the kids mistakenly took her bag. At this point my wife tells me to "do something". I really don't think I did anything because my wife then gets the idea to call the number on the suitcase and we get this kid's mother. She gives us his cell phone number and we start dialing. Sure enough the kid has our bag and we coax him to coming to our terminal to trade bags. Everthing works out in the end, but what a way to start your honeymoon.

There were no more hicups along the way, we get to the resort, after an hour long bus ride from the Dominican Republic airport. It rained the whole way to the resort and it rained almost all night. Despite all of this we really had a wonderful week. The food was good, the beaches were well maintained. The drinks were non-stop and the staff was really wonderful.

The only other hitch was that my wife decided that she didn't need any sunscreen on the first day. That first day, we were supposed to go to a meeting to discuss going back to the airport and where they provided information on things to do at the resort. My wife decided not to go and she wanted to enjoy the sun and weather. This was a big mistake. I was gone for 45 minutes and upon my return she was beet-red. Even I was a little bit red and I was using some high-powered sun screen. We basically bathed her in aloe that night, and it all worked out fine.

My Dogs Are Evil Geniuses

My dogs are evil geniuses. That's right, they are plotting against both my wife and I. As you can see in the photo above they have randomly dug holes in the pathway leading up to the back door. I like to call these "ninja traps". Next, the cleverly tried to cover these holes with the hay, which I so lovingly provided to them to keep them warm when it gets cold, in order to trick the human into thinking that there really isn't a hole in the ground. Now, I don't give them an "A" for technique, however, they are on the right track. Visitors, beware, you are being put on notice that you should be careful where you stop, for you will never know when you might fall into our dogs' little trick.

Blue Gets a Bath

Blue doesn't get a bath very often. She has incredibly thick fur that just doesn't dry. In fact, if you don't dry her with a blow dryer for a little bit she will be wet for up to two hours after her bath. Not to mention, if you don't sit in the tub with her then I think she feels like she's being mistreated. Despite all of this, she got a bath last weekend. You can tell from the photos up top that we don't do this often because the water was completely brown. I know, it's gross, but I keep thinking that she's a dog and that's what dogs are supposed to do. Play in the dirt and get dirty. She's very good at it.

Linkys:

Urban Ninja.

West Coast compliment to the Lazy Sunday, Chronic of Narnia (via metafilter).

My wife would love this site.

A pretty good Mavs blog.

I am always on the lookout for items that make my life easier and 37signals is a pretty neat set up websites, designed to simplify and organize your life. Go ahead and try them out, most of them are free.

If you have to go to one place every morning to get your headlines all wrapped in a neat package then go to The Morning News.

I love Exploding Dog's art.

I was actually thinking last night why the AAC has never hosted an all-star game, well, Mark Cuban says it's because of the fans.

Chili's in Forney

How do people get behind in posting on their blog? They simply don't post all week.

Chili's is such a funny little restraunt. Do all of those photos which are nailed on the wall come with the purchase of your franchise. I get that they are trying to convey the idea that this is good old fashioned cooking, but I swear that all of those photos are the same. Don't get me wrong the food is good, but whoever build that Chili's may have not built a big enough restraunt.

Nevertheless, good times were had.

I talked to my Mom today and she said that she was reading my little project and I think she enjoyed it. She said that she's been working on her own writing project and it consists of a journal about her and Dad from the day that they met. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to have people who are creative and who write. I know that it's time consuming, but generations will thank you for it.

It's nice to know that I have readers out there other than Ben.

There is nothing else worthy to post about today. Just a picture of Blue with her favorite towel that she likes to chew.

The Story of My Life

I was thinking of this the other day and I ran across this writing assignment. Write your biography in 400 words or less. For those of you who do not click the link, once you've done this repeat and do another biography using different facts. What do you think about yourself? Here's my submission:

I was born in Tyler, Texas and grew up on golf courses. Some of my fondest memories are walking along the fairways with my brother and father, shoes and socks completely wet from the dew on the grass. We moved to Austin, Nashville, Richardson, and Kaufman and I have four siblings. I am the second oldest of the group and my youngest brother is ten years younger than me. I had two open heart surgeries performed on me before the age of six. I can remember stitches and shots. I did most of my growing up in Kaufman. My family owned a turfgrass farm which ended up providing us with all we could ever ask. Countless summer days picking up rocks and stacking sod. As a child I resented most of these summers, but as I grew older I appreciated them to no end. As I look back high school it was a blur. I received my high school diploma from Kaufman in 1992 and did not think it was that big of a deal. I started my college experience at Texas A & M and eventually transferred to Texas Tech (I thought I wanted to be a teacher). I received my undergrad at Texas Tech and did not think it was that big of a deal. I taught high school English for a year, but I thought I was not done learning. I started law school in August of 1998 and I received my law degree at the University of Tulsa and I finally thought that this was a big deal. Law school was studying, Pickles Pub, Golden Tee and fellowship. Some of my closest friends are from Kaufman, but not from high school. My other group of friends are from law school. I met my wife wife in 2002 at a friend's wedding. I didn't want to leave her that night. I will never forget the black dress that she wore. We were engaged in October of 2003 and married in May of 2005. She is the light of my life. I am an attorney now and my wife and I have three dogs: Blue, Olive and Zoey. I lost one dog along the way, Rage, because her kidneys would not and could not function. She was a sweet puppy dog.

Linkys:

Amazing photographs.

The Ranger's presence in the Dominican Republic.

Another good Cowboys article (and another) and it's not from the DMN or FWST.

Listal is a great place to organize your DVD's, music and books. I've been looking for a place like this for a while and I think that this is the best one. Here's Puppy Dog Blue's Listal.

A Day in Dallas With a Bunch of Lawyers

Church of the Guadalupe.


Picture of Nasher sculplture from across the parking lot.


Contrast of old church against a mirrored building.

The Belo Mansion.

An otherwise lovely day doing continuing education in Dallas was soured a little bit by an older woman, maybe 50 to 55, who was asked numerous times by individuals, including myself, if the seat next to her was taken. Everytime, she replied that the seat was being saved. I should let everyone know that this particular class was completely full. Even I was running a little late, mostly due to my ignorance of where to park. Nevertheless, this lady refused tat least 10 people who asked to sit next to her.

The entire morning session is finished and no one sits next to her. The afternoon session starts with no one sitting next to her.

Why would a person taunt God in such a way?

During my lunch hour I talked around the Belo Mansion where the class was being held and took a number of pictures. I really wanted to spend the afternoon in the Nasher Sculpture Center, but admission was $10.00 and I would have only had my lunch hour to explore.

The Dallas Museum of art is right next door to the Nasher and amazingly enough there was not one public school in attendance. Every child I saw had wool pants/skirt and a sweater-vest (i.e. private school). I remember going to museums and plays, but do public school children get to go on field trips any more? There's a ton of beautiful things to see in Dallas. Things that I would think would inspire young people. I propose a field trip to the Nasher sometime this spring.

Back to the conference, I believe that attorneys are nice average folks, however, we are some of the most pretentious and self-involved professions. Everyone is talking on their cell phone. Most of them do not have the common courtesy to step outside to answer the phone and no one can be bothered to turn off their phones. We are all so damned important.

As an aside, the costume for the generic white-guy attorney: khaki pants, a light blue shirt and a blazer if it's cool outside.

Most of the attorneysthat I see are not the attorneys that I went to school with at Tulsa. We all studied hard and most of us did very well in terms of grades, but we had a damn good time too. We had plenty of time for Golden Tee and Pickles Pub and washers and Tulsa basketball games and fellowship. Looking around yesterday, there didn't appear to be a mo-fo that I would want to hang out with, with. The conference would have been more fun if I was playing "What Celebrity Does That Person Look Like?" Unfortunately, the game would have gotten very old very fast since every other guy looks like Mr. Belding, Mr. Drummond or Alan Alda.

I should have a neat writing assignment for everyone by Saturday morning.

Good times. Good times.

Linkys:

Marquis Daniels' tattoos (via bob sturm). You should right click and open in a new window.

Stay tuned for what looks to be a pretty good NFL mock draft.

I've never been that in love with Britney and here's another reason why.

Jessica Alba link for Duk.

I love this guy's art.

Maverick's Big Wave Surfing Contest picture gallery.

Gordon Keith is funny and he is Britney Spears.

Superbowl

You decide for yourself. Was Big Ben in? I don't think so.

No Words Just Dogs

Ryan

I've been meaning to post about this for quite a while and I've been thinking about it for quite a while. Ryan is my brother, we do not have the closest relationship, much of which I blame on myself for various reasons, but this is not what this is about. Ryan is a baker. That's right, a baker, in the very old sense of the term. He bakes cakes, breads, cookies, etc. Ryan has always fought the good fight in employment. Lots of people say that if you have can have job satisfaction then you will find happiness. No one has been beaten down by the prospect of doing something that he obviously loves, but it seems that no employer will return that love with a bigger paycheck. He has always wanted to bake. This is what he does. He doesn't want much in return. Just a salary, and I don't think that this is too much to ask. How many of us would take job after job and never back down from his passion? I dare say that few of us would keep up that desire. In all honesty, he could try and do something else, but I believe that he wouldn't be doing what he loves and he wouldn't be happy. It would just be nice if someone returned the favor.

Look Who's In the Doghouse

Well, it's been a tiring week, thus the lack of links and posts. Exhaustion is a funny thing. I started thinking the other day that it's been 8 months since my last vacation (honeymoon). Through no one's fault but my own, I just haven't taken any time off. Luckily, my wife and I are going to Destin in March and we're very excited about the prospect of getting away for a while. Granted, we're not going to Cabo like other folks, but we are getting away.

Linkys:

Photo project, a guy buys photos at flea markets, thus they are, or were, completely lost, but now found.

Cowboy notes.

Matt Mosley has a good article on Rayfield Wright getting into the Hall.

Mavs win their 11th game in a row.

Excellent article on gliders in WWII.

Happy Superbowl!