Two Large Dead Trees

Miranda and I have been blessed because we have some really large trees in our yard. When we first moved into our house we had six huge oak tress. Whether it be because of the extreme drought from this summer or just old age, two of my six trees have died. Because of their size I don't think that either myself or my friends will be able to take these down without causing some serious damage. This first tree has a weird growth coming out of one of the branches (pictures to come later) and this tree was destined to die sooner rather than later.


This tree has been damaged in other ways. If you look to the left of the tree there's a large portion of the tree that fell off at some point and then and compare it with the center of the tree. This tree was supposed to be my treehouse tree, but for whatever reason (mainly laziness or lack of follow-through) this never happened. There's a greater than zero chance that if not properly cut down, this tree could fall directly into my neighbor's home, which would be really bad.


Since I've got nothing else tonight, I give you dogs. As an aside, many times I have attempted to capture Olive as she comes back towards the house after using the "bathroom" and she has the most empty look I have ever seen in a dog in my entire life. Her eyes get real big and it's like she's in a complete daze. In this picture, Blue's about the bite the crap out of her neck.


Zoey looking for love.


In response to Ben's comment about Mo getting a husky or something of this ilk. I am only speaking for myself, but I will never get another particular breed of a dog. Now, I think that Miranda will want another Pug and she has mentioned before that she wants a Great Dane (although this is doubtful on my watch), but personally, I would much rather just save a dog from the pound. Our best dogs (in other words, dogs with the least amount of health problems) are muts and although we weren't sure what we were going to get, they've both been really good sweet puppy dogs. I would be willing to bet that you'd eventually find a husky type of dog at the pound given some time. You should also be aware that you will clean up an incredible amount of dog hair. We have to vacuum or sweep at least once every two days, and we could really do it once a day if we had the time.

Razor - Rest In Peace

I first purchased the Gillette Mach 3 when it first came out, sometime in 1991 or 1992. Even in high school I was cursed with a somewhat heavy beard and whatever disposable razor I purchased at the time always cut up my face and did more harm than good. Essentially I needed a razor that could handle the everyday use without having bloody-face. Once I purchased the Mach 3 I knew I was in love. I had no cuts and a smooth shave, which was all I ever wanted from a razor. The Mach 3 and I remained closer than ever all through my undergrad, and law school, and I don't just mean I used a Mach 3, I have used the same one I bought in 1991. Approximately 15 years later, I felt it was time to put to bed my original Mach 3 and as you can see below, it has been through some battles. I had never noticed how much the handle was about to remove itself from the razor, not to mention, the actual razor wouldn't stay on the handle which cause numerous shaving problems. For those of you who want a real close up of these pictures make sure and click on the picture and then click on it again for an even close look.

Yes, this is some sort of growth or funk. This has grown on my razor despite the fact that I shave in the shower.




Now, I knew it was time to purchase a new razor and I dreaded the thought of standing in Wal-Mart and trying to choose between the Gillette Fusion and the more plain Gillette M3 Power. Nevertheless, the trip to Wal-Mart was made and I was astounded by the price for refills for either of these brands. It would cost me $20 to purchase the razor and $23 dollars to purchase 4 refill razors. Doesn't anyone else think that this is a tad bit ridiculous? The thought of spending $50 on a razor was not something I was about to do. So I purchased some Gillette disposable razors that look like the old Mach 3 for about $6 for 6 razors. To my surprise they were absolutely awesome. I was expecting the worst and was pleasantly surprised that this is the essentially the same razor that I first purchased in 1991. For those of you who may be facing a new razor purchase sometime soon, I highly recommend this purchase, especially if you a cheap son-of-a-gun like myself.

Dog Sitting

This past weekend Miranda and I dog-sat Randy and Ann's new Jack Russell, Curly. Needless to say we had our hands full with three other dogs and a puppy. Not to mention, we had to celebrate Miranda's birthday.

As you can see below, this is what we've been fight for the last 4 weeks or so. Blucipher has been shedding like no one's business. What you see below is what happens when I brush her for 1 minute. It almost looks like we've sheared a sheep or like one of our dogs killed a small animal, but no, this is simply brushing my dog. I've been told that I need the ShedEnder, but I'm not sure that this is the way to go.


Blue.


Curly.


Curly hiding.


Zo-Zo.


A somewhat funny story. Sunday morning, I'm outside with the Blue and Curly and they're playing, which is great because this means that they'll sleep the rest of the day. Curly's running around and runs right into one of the iron patio chairs. I was expecting a yelp or something, but Curly simply turned on her side and groaned. I started to freak out just a little bit because this was not the reaction I was expecting. Curly laid quite still for some time and she started moving, barely. You could tell she was shaken and she walked over to the grass and proceeded to throw-up, twice. I'm not a medical doctor nor am I a vet, but if I had to guess, old Curly had a pretty serious concussion. I kept a close eye on him the rest of the day and he seemed to be fine by the time that Randy and Ann picked him up.

I've been reading a new website, Big Screen Little Screen, for non-traditional movie and television news. If you like movies and television that make you think, then this may be the place for you to go.

I also cannot remember where I found this, but I found an online exhibition called Bound for Glory: America in Color and it's a pretty amazing set of photographs from 1939 to 1943. I get really caught up in these people's faces. I don't know if there was more expression in people's faces 50 years ago, or the fact that in comparison, there's hardly any suffering in America to that time. I don't know, but it's amazing nonetheless. (Edit, this is from Kottke.)

Also, I've added another Mavs website to the right, Mav Central. It's got fresh content at least twice a week and it's well written.

Miranda's Birthday @ Southern Junction

We celebrated Miranda's birthday with a slew of friends at Southern Junction last night. Southern Junction is best described as a honky-tonk with a live band and country music dancing. Not excactly my cup of tea, but Miranda loves this sort of stuff. Some of the highlights below:

Miranda and Jessica

Miranda and Leslie

Stephen and Lelie were without their signifacant others last night and so they decided to take a cute picture together.

It was at this point that I realized that having Stephen here by himself provided an excellent opportunity to get two seconds of "Single Stephen" which meant that I made the request to give Leslie the "look". Ashley T., rest easy, as you can tell by Leslie's reaction, that Stephen's still all yours.

Southern Junction is also a steakhouse, but unlike other steakhouses, you can cook your own steak.

Miranda and Jessica, dancing together

Justin and Ashley F.

I told Landy that this was a winner and I think I'm right.

Southern Junction also has a disco ball with a cowboy hat on it. Yes, that's right a disco ball with a cowboy hat.

Jessica and Chris.

Elizabeth and Miranda.

Oh, sweet.

My camera ran out of batteries right after this picture, which means that Miranda and I did not take a picture together, but I did get one with my other sweet heart, Chris.

Happy Birthday Miranda - #25

A wonderful and happy birthday to my wonderful and happy wife.

Dinner and Dogs

Last night Miranda and I went to Randy and Ann's for dinner.

This is why you should always take your camera with you. This is just driving along and taking a couple of quick pictures.


Me and Olive


Miranda and me. She's singing here.


This is Curly, Randy's new dog. It's really hard to get a picture of him because he's constantly in motion. I was lucky here.


Curly attacks.

I believe I am the world's worst in regards to the news. I don't read it and I generally don't watch the world news because I don't need to be depressed. I am trying to change that by trying to read some select items on the internet. The first one I'll throw out is a weekly email from Activate. It's a nice compilation of the weeks news and with it being sent to me in an email form I'm more likely to read it. This news group also sends out a bi-monthly edition related to books called Boldtype, and one related to music (but I think it's only electronica, which is not exactly up my alley).

I've also been reading Slate and it's a really nice review of the days' news. I initially started reading this site while I was in Austin and I had so much free time to waste on the internet. I decided early on that the least I could do is educate myself and this was one of those sites that helped me do that. Slate additionally does a nice job of linking all of the major newspaper articles so if you want to visit those pages then you have that option.

Hannah and Randy's Wedding

It's been a really crazy week and quite frankly a week that I'd like to forget for the most part, which included me coming home on Wednesday and simiply crawling into bed. 

As I mentioned before the actual wedding was in July and this was the reception which was being held at a golf course on the north side of San Antonio.

Grandma.

The reception hall.

My sweetie.

For some reason this golf course even had longhorn cattle.

Lots of big houses on a nice size hill.

Mom, Sylvia and Dad.

Miranda and me.

Mom and Dad.

The father of the bride, Scott, and the bride, Hannah.

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Grandma

This is my grandmother along with my cousin, Charlie.

Grandma & Grandpa

Miranda and I went to San Antonio this weekend, more specifically, Castroville, Texas for my counsin, Hannah and her husband, Randy, wedding reception.  They were married in the Carribean in July and this was more or less the wedding receiption they didn't get to have.

One of the main reasons why we went was to see my Grandmother and Grandfather.  They have lived their whole life in a small town, Rio Medina and my father grew up there as well.  I really don't get to see them enough and a big part of why we decided to go was to see them.  Here's a little history on the town of Castroville:

Castroville was founded in 1842 by Henri Castro, for whom it is named. The first settlers were mostly Catholic farmers from Alsace, a region of France. Castroville still has strong cultural ties to Alsace as many of its citizens are descendents of the original settlers who journeyed here from Alsace in 1844.  Castroville's sister city is Eguisheim, Alsace, France.

Miranda and I passing time while on the road.

This is the town of Rio Medina.  At one time this was the general store and the post office.  Rio Medina literally consists of this store and two other houses.

South Texas clouds.

There used to be a stone wall at this house, and as Grandma has said before, in the late 1800's the individual who owned this home was having his horses stolen by Indians, in an effort to stop this problem he camped out one night and waited until the Indian crawled over the wall and shot him.  This seemed to stop the horse thievery.

Cotton fields with cotton clouds.

This is my grandparent's home.

This is the hallway in the house.

This is their kitchen and dining room, we have spent many Christmas' and breakfasts and other times at this table.

The backyard.

Freshly tilled.

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