The Color of Her Eyes Were the Color of Insanity

Ahhh, The Texas Renaissance Festival, I've been waiting to go back for 14 years, When I was a young, I suppose a JR in high school I went to this with sis, and it was spectacular. Don't ask me what went on in the last 14 years, but it's turned into political correctness and 'good family fun.' No tellin' what 'sue crazy' person decided the typical belly dancer offended him or his family.

First stop was the Parthenon in this medieval mix-up of European cultures. Here me and bob got us a bottle of Mead, which made us sleepy, and it was the ONLY 'pub' in the entire campus that served Spaten and other goodies, I guess the rest of the medieval people drank Bud Light, Miller, and Coors.

Hanging out by the Parthenon, I stumbled upon pregnant KIMMIE and Randy Z, a pleasant surprise considering I haven't seen them in ages. Fat boy representin' with his shirt from, ummm, Scotland?

The coolest 'ride' I would have loved to got on were these 'kings swings,' but alas, just like me looking at Manuelabor, then a two seater gondola in Venice, I just couldn't bring myself to hop on this thing with Bob.

The grounds are incredible, some serious work is put into the aesthetics of the place, and it is nicely tucked into a vegetation that begs you to even believe you are even in Texas. The incense is great, and 'Robin Hood' type tunes are everywhere.

Only in Texas will you find a dude dressed like a Roman, but with a cowboy hat and a Timex. Since is was the Roman week, even when in Rome, I guess Texas do what the Texans do, and appease the Romans.

A brawl out there, why? Who knows? The European's didn't even know what the hell was going on in the days of Feudalism, but, I bet it was something seeing dudes fight lions and things like this.

Last and I guess least is the joust. Last time I was there, this was hardcore, lots more speed, dudes gettin' creamed, now it was cream puff titty rubbin'. Don't get me started on what they've done to the mud pit, 14 years ago that shit was a free-for-all. Here's a youtube of the joust, the French dude didn't win, cause you know, like the shirt says.....Texas is bigger than France......hmmmm....

Too Hard on the Breaks Again, What if these Breaks Just Give In

Killer cars is right, last night on the way home, as I35 goes from three lanes to two, the Astro Van in front slams on the breaks, I therefore slam on the breaks, barely missing a collision, but the Altima behind me, BAM, slams into the back of the VDub, and the momentum pushes me into the van in from of me, creating a car sandwich. No injuries and minute harm done to the vdub, but my neck is killin' me today from the whiplash.

What does it all mean, I hate driving, especially on the daily commute. It's different driving a Porshe thru winding country roads, but the exotic commute always produces near collisions.

Driving is scary, we take it all for granted, especially on highways, where the person in that other lane could just smash right into you. Damn, I'm morbid, and what a lame post, have a great weekend everyone.

Striving to Be Extraordinary

Ahhh, the musings at despair.com, we all get a kick out of it, especially if you are in that sorta demotivating environment, the stuff either gets you going or gets the best of you.

The book I continue to make progress on is amazing. It's slow progress, because it's challenging, every concept of it, a life changer of sorts, one that perhaps challenges all preconceived notions, at least for me. There's one thing to read a book and understand it, consume it, etc, but to actually embrace it as if it's the biography of your unfinished life, that's a different story.

It speaks of a Fountain of Youth, a fountain of youth at the top of a mountain, a mountain that has taken your utmost energy to climb, against all odds, with everything thrown in your way. Once you're at the top, you don't want to come back down, and you can't bring it down with you, and as Randy Newman once said, OOOO, it's lonely at the top.

So what's at the top, and what makes it so lonely up there. Self actualization is what's up there, once realized, it allows your ambition and desire to break free and run, suddenly things become much clearer. What's at the top is a cold focus on achievement. The meek do inherit the earth, but only after the ignorant destroy it, as the creative and intelligent do their best to protect it.

I'd say there are a handful of these people that hold the world on their shoulders, they don't accept no for an answer, they focus on their goals, dreams and ambitions. The world of frivolous conversations that go nowhere (politics, religion, ex-girlfriends, what kinda spinnas are on your ride, etc) are not of interest anymore. These people are the unsung heroes of the world, creating wealth, jobs, careers, advancements in society, etc.

Well it may seem like I've drank the Ayn Rand cool-aid, however presently it's what makes sense to me. It's says to me get in wiggle ass mode while you can, for love might be on the way.

Speakin' of love, let's harp on it for a minute. Currently I'm struggling with the idea that it's just an abstract idea (true love is a rose, behind glass that's locked and kept closed). It's a business arrangement that gains baggage as it rolls along until you're left with little or no wiggle room, it's that smothering feeling that keeps me from becoming attached to anyone who's not prime Grade A 100% funky badass chick (i.e. your idealistic 'dream girl').

The idea is about taking care of yourself first has always been a blogbit of mine. People who claim to have found a mate that takes care of them more than they take care of themselves and vice versa, and say it works....are strictly delusional.

If you check out that 'Hierarchy of Needs', and notice some gaps, that's what's f*cked up in ones life, you can either choose to fight against it or let it own you, me, I check that sh*t out quite a bit, try to make my weaknesses my strengths and all that self triumphant stuff......maybe that's why I need to buy this shirt -- haha, TOTALLY just kidding.

I want to be in that elite group. My brother in law always has the phrase 'striving to be extraordinary,' what better phrase to live by.....what better tag-line for personal motivation, because when the lights go out and we leave this place, us people that believe in worm food have but reflection to look back upon, did we do a good job in life or did we not.

Rain's Gonna Come In Fair Sized Drips, We're Gonna Go to Heaven Wearin Paper Hat Ships

Sometimes I don't think my hometown deserves a festival like this, and sometimes I think this festival deserves my town. First of all, getting a lineup of sissies, a bunch of alt-rock has-beens, a Hodge podge of country artists, for the performers, a proper lashing out / and vice versa from the religious zealots of the town.

Only high point was 4-5 pm, and even then, most of the people I spoke went out of the way to NOT LIKE the only talent of the evening, the Old 97's. Even Rhett's gyrating hips didn't get the attention of the average 'hate me' blue October fan. That's OK, Ashley and I represented in the front line, and when the curtain called, after a few glasses of 120 proof, I boldly shouted out to Godsmack and Blue October fans, enjoy your shitty bands, as I went to the back to socialize.

The only shot of the weekend, gotta love the elevated stage that the best you can get is 20 feet away.

The STEVEMEISTER and the MITCHMAN came down for the occasion, even though they were too wussy to ride their Harley's down! hahahaha -- Always great times with Steve -- Other notes, I met my friend Pam Snook who's now OBGYN in Florida, and Matt Hendrickson, who I haven't seen in 15 plus years, reconnected thru myspace, both pleasant surprises.

Not so pleasant surprises include watching the ever evolving social circles of Shiner people making up, breaking up, hookin' up, conspiring, and the like, in hopes to gain.....ummm, what?? In many ways, thru the course of the night, and mingling between social circles, I would have either hung out with Godsmack, or the baptist preacher for that matter.

Speaking of preachers and such, the 'blasphemy' on the Shiner Church this year read 'Don't use the Lord's name in vain, or god will 'smack' you. Tisk Tisk Tisk, you know what I REALLY don't like about the new wave Christians, they want it both ways, they want the humble and meek thoughts of Jesus (which is good), but yet they feel this testerone in that they have to 'lash out' to the community, and JUDGE! yes, JUDGE things they don't understand, instead of TOLERATE, hell, 14 years of Sunday School and Church, that's what I learned. So hence, you got 'billboards quoting things Jesus never said or think.' Riddle me this religious right, if you like your life, live it to the fullest, and have no regrets, what does that afterlife have for ya? Believe me, I have tons more on this one day.

and who gives a flip if you listen to Godsmack or not, and exactly what makes this bunch of dillweeds so intimidating, they ain't to me???

Stickshifts and Safetybelts!

Today we made a fast trip out to brother Derwin's house for some family bonding. We checked out his fully restored 72 Corvette Stingray, his latest project car, a 69 Camero, and to tour one of his 5 oil rigs he works for as a consultant.

Derwin says whenever he has a bad day, he just hops in the Vette and it makes everything a bit better. I can see why they call it a stingray, it's menacing, even in the passengers seat!

Me and brother Jr in the middle of the rig, amazing gadgetry all around, it's amazing how advanced these things are, and tree huggers, don't worry, from what I saw, this thing is clean as a whistle.

Somewhere in the course of the day we stopped and pigged out at this country kitchen, the roast beast was nice, and don't you just love the restaurants that serve 'sweet tea?'

The next project car, a 69 Camero, projected due date, 1-2 years, this one's gonna need a lot of TLC.

Can't do it justice, but here's the Vette out on the country road, we hit about 80 mph before we ran out of straight road. This thing is a monster!

Keep up the good work Derb, hope to see you again soon and stay a spell.

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, In Perfect Harmony

Skype, the new old hotness since Rolando and Olando haven't embraced Google Talk yet became the venue for a geek out / bad music session tonight.

Rolando, Olando, Mike D, Mike P and myself all hopped on the conference and talked ummmm, shit the majority of the evening.

Some recordings also came out of the evening, and the guys will bash me for this, but what the hell. Extremely BAD recordings, ALL bad voices.

Olando - Silverchair Song
Rolando - Some DMB song
Mike D - Just Pretending
Fat Head - Singing tribute to the missing Manuelabor

and the 'MAIN EVENT', Mahon singing Thom Yorke, boy someone put this poor guy out of his misery!

Takin' to you Girl, Is Like Long Division

Recapping the night from a few days later, it's hard to point out a central theme, so I'll wing it with a bunch of random tidbits.

As I'm heading down to Shinertown, I call the beast, and he just so happens that he's sittin' there with the gang at Howards, so there's a few dollar cups down the drain. Then the singer / songwriter Bill Pekar comes in for a beer, our band director from back in high school is always there, some cousins, and nice mix of people.

Later I text message Mr Boehm, he comes out to join us, a sound human being who's diplomatic and funny to boot. I might add that him and his wife Julie are one of those couples I brag about, they are like Robbie Hart and Julie Sullivan in the wedding singer.

So the dollar cups are flowing, Bob and his better half and Ms. B come out, then followed by T-Dog and Tony-meister, as we sit there, conversation always goes to some strange places. Next, our old football coach / English teacher, who I haven't seen in ages comes up, gives me a big hug, and tells me he's now a preacher. An interesting man Mr. B is.

Speaking of preachers, the Shiner preachers are at it again, condemning the Bocktoberfest (in specific Godsmack), and wrote a big article in the paper bashing the band (funny they don't bash the revenue it brings for the city.) In response, my buddy Nate Dogg 'lashes back', a much more sophisticated rebuttal, kudos Nate Dogg. Next time I'm in a bad mood, I'll pour some violently flammable fuel on that fire.

That was part one of the evening, a typical night in Shiner, hanging out with friends that are extremely loyal and fun, from all walks of life, in one tiny outside gas station / tavern.

Part two of the night involves Mr Boehm, myself, Timmy and Evylyn (my nephew and his better half), and Daniel and his better half (old classmates from back in high school.)

At the 'cool' bar, 23 bucks for 3 shots and two beers, simply robbery, anyone want to open a bar in Shiner for the weekend, all we need is beer, karaoke, and a friendly personality and we're golden.

I started to blog about the limo girls that 'graced' the place with their presence, but the prose went south pretty quick, so there we have it...

Perceptions on Marriage and the American Family

Lacinator, Manuelabor's better half decided to ask me some question for a class about the above topics, the open door!

Perceptions on Marriage

Is marriage important in American Society? Yes, in what way? No, why not?

Yes, I believe it is tremendously important and vital to human happiness and survival, problem is less and less are doing it 'right' as the influx of information and opportunities create more FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt). It takes a two very strong people to do marriage 'right' these days, and they merit the utmost respect in my opinion.

Is marriage in the increase or decrease in America?

My guess is that it's a gradual increase, but 2nd and 3rd time marriages are on the up and up. Geeze, if you didn't do it right the first time and learn from it, what compels these folks to stick their hand in the fire again, it's hot, you will get burned!!! Mr. Cynicism might add, the divorce rate is climbing, and if you cross reference miserable soles caught in dead-end relationships, these numbers are probably extremely shocking and disheartening.

Is marriage necessary to have a family?

I'm assuming your own genetic code (kids) and the like. I say no. If I was a kid that grew up under shitty circumstances where mom and dad were together just because of me and psychologically had a grudge on me, I'd rather have been adopted by the (pardon my bluntness)...fat lonely chick who is caring and nurturing and will take care of me and love me, but not so much as I grow up to be a titty baby. It's all a trade-off.

American Family

Describe the typical American Family....

Well the nuclear family is described as man, woman, kids and dog, but I would say the typical American family is man, woman, kids, dog, and loser uncle, or some other variation, addition or subtraction of a third party that invades the tradition makeup of the nuclear family. Life is full of hustle and bustle, and plenty of distractions work their way into the typical American family, therefore making it a very, very complicated business that needs a lot of care and attention. I'm thankful to have what I think are above typical family in most stretches of my life, and I thank the ether for that everyday, because it has a direct influence on any success I have in life...If you don't have that, you have the latter, which makes up the dynamic of American society.

What is the major role or function of a family? Is the family on the decline? If so-how so?

The major role of a family in my opinion is to TEACH ethics to kids (not relying on religion) while letting these ethics you teach keep you the parent in check. I would also put these ethics together with the idea and importance of a unified family. If you're not teaching and learning from each other first, external factors enter the sphere of influence. If you're nothing paying attention as parents to kids and vice versa, something or someone else, or some other idea is. I'm not saying you have to sit down at family dinner every night like the Brady Bunch, but show a genuine interest in your family, work with each other, and give each other the benefit of the doubt, and project that shit to the world.

The family is on the decline for several reasons, biggest one is economic reasons, and the advent of consumerism and purchase power, therefore making it necessary for dual income families. Essentially, I've learned that families with children have two jobs, and one of them you can't call in sick. Another reason is desire and temptation portrayed in the media, i.e. scantily clad chicks running around on ABC and the like. Last but not least the advent of the information age, which instills wonder in the hearts and minds of many people who are alone yet not alone.

How do you feel about homosexual marriages?

Love is love, and it transcends gender, and history has proved this. I have nothing against gay people getting married, however, as it becomes legal in more places, tax benefits for ALL married people should go away and tax cuts should be evaluated by other means to be determined. If I can get a significant tax break for marrying this brokeback mountain stud, show me to the alter, and don't worry mike p, you don't need a cork.

work musings

Draw complicated sh*t out on the board, that's what my boss has taught me. If you are working with a good team, and you are somewhat creative and don't have a white board, chances are you aren't working together that well.

Unfortunately CCR isn't the band.

I always think about writing a book, I could write one about work that probably transcends any environment.

The outline would include look something like this off the top of my head....reverse discrimination (being a white heterosexual male that actually gets things done is discriminated against in some places), people with conflict of interest, a study of the brightest and best solitaire players in the world, a loss of objectivity, political correctness to a fault, grudges (many times worse than the average kids), emails threads that are abso-f*ckin'-lutely out of control, and last but not least how bad leadership always leads to mutiny on the bounty.

I Hear Beyonce on the Radio, and That's the Way I Like It

A big hit for the Austin Music Foundation this evening, as a bunch of Indie labels sent reps to hang out and talk to the local artists.

Bringing out reps from the record industry brings people out of the woodwork, not to mention demo and promo cd's.

Thanks for the Beyonce reference Ben, she's gone a long way with her dad at the helm of their label.....hopefully one day they'll play you on the radio.

We Go Thru All the Same Lines or Sell Out to Appease But Go to Sleep in a Bed of Lies

The hometown boys, Spoon, with yet another sold out days in advance show at Emo's. Spoon is brilliant, I've blogged about them a million times before.

Just insert good things, more good things, yet more good things. This song is about one of those dreaded dudes by day, females by night, video taken from a taping of Austin City Limits.

Also semi-noteworthy, my first tailgating (sp?) experience as the horns beat Sam Houston State by about a million points.

Jose Can You See

The worse night ever to not have a camera, for I had the 'money shot,' front row center. The classical guitar parts were amazing to actually see, an interesting sytle. Amazing the fickle-ness of the Austin crowd, it's almost like, yea, Jose is here, cool, he'll be here in a few months again, so yea, cool, we're cool, etc.

Well Jose, wearing his wonderful horizontal striped shirt, and I heard someone refer to him as looking like the Spurs own Ginobli. Jenny actually chatted with him for a bit, the best I can do is the dreaded camera phone picture.

Great show for 15 bucks, the opener 'Death Vessel' is very noteworthy as well, check out his stuff, Providence Rhode Island is where he calls home.

Never making it 'home' last night.....staying at Mike D's place, means wearing the same clothes to work as the day before, my coworkers are lucky! hahahaha

Boring Birthday Rant

Today I turn 30, something everyone tells me is a big deal in terms of birthdays, however, the status quo response.....'I don't feel any different?'

I'd like to think of it like Jeff Buckley once said before the undercurrent of the mighty Mississippi sucked him under.....'Too young to hold on, too old to just break free and run.' Before I can really grasp what I'm too old for, and what I'm still young enough for, I have to reflect on the past, and make a current assessment of my life.

How did I get here? How did I one day wake up staying with my wonderful sister, owning a house I don't live in?, and thanks Collin for letting me 'use' your room. How have I managed to create friendships, mangle them, still hold on to them, and grow with them? What exactly is 'friend and family opinion' of Robert?..... as I'm sure, as with everyone, we are fodder for conversation in various circles.

I've lived life by experience and not discipline to this point, and I don't regret a single minute of it, except that balance on the credit card. I've crossed the pond 5 times, but I barely have a 'pot to piss in.' I've went to more live shows than probably a bottom third of my hometown combined causing a very lopsided state of mind, as as Cake says, yes, the liver does pain dearly now for youthful magic moments.

I've had big, and will continue to have them. The accountant analogy is to plug the holes in your leaky financial bucket of life.....well my philosophy is to figure out how to get more water in the bucket, letting a continuous flow of water in and out. (I just love the cheesy analogies).
Material possessions in life are second, doesn't mean I don't have em', don't want em', just that I'd rather go see the Toshi-meister in Japan instead of the new bedroom suite. I'd rather go see Man Man in a few weeks instead of happy hour with the Smiths, and I'd rather watch a good show on YouTube than your average sitcom. Is there anyway you can interface youtube with the big tv?

What does that leave for the future, well maybe the future looks so bright I gotta wear shades, but maybe I'll be doomed to hell due to being scatterbrained. I look at my fellow '30 somethings' and admire parents (especially my sistas), people who have it figured out (or at least think they do -- which means they don't do the sniff test of clothes laying on the floor and say 'that'll do for today'), and their ability to live more comfortably as disciplines make way for the different experiences of parenthood, badasses in careers, etc, etc.

If you're young, not a democrat you have no heart, if you're old and not republican, you have no brain. Doubt that, if you vote before you look at the issue and the individual, you're a fool, no matter what age.

What do I have to enhance......? Binge drinking, Social circles and interaction, career choices, maybe start listening to Michael Bolton, maybe Preporation H, increased family participation, learning when to go to bed, taking better care of what I eat, what I wear, what I think, what I say, who I say it to, and understanding that a brutally honest opinion is the best way to go, but a lot can't deal with it, being more aware that every decision carries with it trade-offs, learning to be in touch more with pop culture in terms of TV and American football otherwise I'll be a lonely mofo.

And most importantly figuring out a way to interact with the big wide world, I'm captivated by it, and can't get enough of it....truth is stranger than fiction, and unbiased unadulterated opinions (AKA THE TRUTH and ANSWERS) are sooner found on the net rather than the tv......thanks for that AL.

broadcast yourself

youtubes slogan, well off and on I've been dabbling with this highly addictive site. read a bit, youtube a bit, go do whateva, youtube a bit, you get the picture

My YouTube Site -- been uploading and checkin' stuff out

Don't forget 'hans'

Or Frank jammin the Def Leppard in Deutschland

o inverted world

What a shot of inspiration when I see these fellas. It seems as if they'd be great people to hang out with, they are un-normally normal.

The Stubb's crowd is amazing, as I talk to my friend Melinda, a Shins newbie, and say, have you ever seen the 'very back rows' of Stubb's go crazy like this? They engage the audience of a show more than anyone I've seen except Radiohead.

The lights camera action was fantastic, I love the lead singers intensity, and they are just pretty f'in symmetrically correct on stage.

All the hits were played, and my posse was the only ones singing along with the new tunes. Stayed tuned, they said the new album was finished a few days ago.

A youtube movie of mine --- Great light show, as you can see we were about 5,000 rows back. i could write about em' all day, you either get it or you don't, for those of you that get it, you know what I mean.

Join the Struggle While You May, The Revolution is Just a T-Shirt Away, Waiting for the Great Leap Forward

Today as I sat at Wendy's eating my set of 10 nuggets, I couldn't help but feel like the dude in Sideways, the one that drank the 'perfect' bottle of wine out of the paper cup. I've vowed never to blog on a sour stomach, when I'm in a crappy mood, or it's raining, well all three are happening at the moment, hence a really critical posting.

Life really does suck right now, I'll expound a bit later, but first I'm grateful for the people around me that 'take care' of me. Props to my sister and the family for providing me a roof over my head and great food that's making my belly fat, props to great friends who are there for me, even though I'm probably not the easiest person to deal with, and I do appreciate the patience and objectivity in the select few. I had a conversation with my friend Amy over pizza the other night, and as we exchange views on life, her rebuttal from the venom that comes out of my mouth is 'wow, that's a really cynical and sad perspective on things.' indeed it is, indeed it is.

Everyone seems to be getting married these days, so I figure I'd bash on the institution itself. I'm not religious, I don't see sanctity in it anymore as the divorce rate climbs. Really, is it human nature to be committed to someone? I look at all the bullshit most couples endure and think, man I'd rather shoot myself in the head then compromise my principles and turn off my brain and not awknowledge when things are truly f*cked up. Is there a silver lining in the cloud, hell no, it's just what you are conditioned to believe. It is natural for people to be with each other, but in the 'new world', this bonding is based on insecurity. Hell in the olden days, things were practical, social interaction was much simpler, but in today's day and age for an ambitious person, it's very hard to find someone that won't hold you back. I don't get into any relationship simply because I haven't found the balance of someone to challenge me, and someone I can add value to their life, without having to deal with logistical bs (i.e. what's for lunch, come cuddle with me and watch Seinfeld, etc, etc, etc), it's just not the way I want to live life. (I mean I'm not apposed to cuddling, but rather with a nice Beatles record rather than the boob toob).

It's hard for me to wake up these days, I don't like my job, many times I feel stupid, I'm triple booked, I'm associated with things I'd don't want to be associated with, and I'm maxed out like a credit card (literally and figuratively). After a house payment, rent payment, car payment, gas, food, I have just enough money a month to tease myself about trips I really can't afford to take, and often times I feel the world passing me by, even though I'm doing all I can to be engaged in the fast paced world.

As all this goes on I'm still very very hopeful as a human being knowing that I'm a wise person building my house on the rock. I have justifications for my stagnation in life, even though I think it's much harder for emotionally intelligent (self proclaimed) to focus, but I'm doing the best I can. I don't see life as a puzzle that needs solving, I'm curious, I have too many options, and I will carry the same emotional baggage anywhere I go, but at the same time I will be happy and hopeful anywhere I go. I don't need validation by a less than inspiring relationship, I don't need a 'pep talk' from people that say I need to get out of my current job, so on and so on. I take care of myself, and myself first 90% of the time, I think if everyone did that in the world, relationships would be 90% better than they are, and there certainly would be lot more respect for your mates in the world. Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving, that's my personality type according to this pop-psychology survey, key point to that, 'introverted' not that I hate people, it means that I get energy from looking inward, and don't feel the need to gravitate towards people.

My hero Thom once said that being an adult means covering your own cracks, and what a shame that this is true. As a human being and an adult, I try to expose my cracks, in order to get the support and reassurance that every human needs. The weak use denial and projection, the strong use introspection, and that's what I'm working towards.

Thru it all, I may have rose colored glasses on, but there is soooo much stupid shit going on in the world, that it is inevitable that the pendulum will swing the other way. People will become more introspective, people will look at their lives and gravitate towards things and people who are a fundamental positive influence on their lives. Big businesses that are 'pieces of shit' like Ernon will be replaced by businesses with integrity. Neoconservatives may understand the concept of the internet and use it as a world binding agent, by, perish the though, having a penpal from 'the axis of evil' or china, or russia or somewhere that will open their minds and realize that they aren't the only people on the planet, and the blanket thought 'let's drop a bomb on their asses, let our God and government solve everything' isn't a fix.

I have to single out this guy (the dizzle) and this guy (the laborer), pillars in the ideological 'better world' I speak about. People who can just look at something and go 'that's f*cked up, and have the strength, courage, and ability to awknowledge real problems and the tenacity to support real solutions.

That's enough spittle for today, like Billy Bragg says......waiting for that great leap forward. Proceeding with boldness but caution.

Long Walks on the Beach, The Press will Impeach

Ben Kweller, a really likeable dude put on a great show at La Zona Rosa. I've seen him a gazillion times, and anyone who hasn't seen him show go out and do themselves a favor and get a load of his quirky humor and stage performance. Not for long, but he's got his album out for a 'myspace exclusive.'

Why I like him, he's real, and that's the attitude he sends out, reading his myspace page, he's a very enthused human that doesn't take anything for granted (like mamma said don't you let it go to your head), many songs are bubble gum, but yet charming, and he does look inside, something the average modest mouse ripoff doesn't attempt.

Tomorrow, the place to be is at the sold out Shins show at Stubbs, I'm not going to ACL, but I'm catching a lot of the runoff.

myspam

The question is why is myspace.com getting hit so hard by spammers, therefore me, and when are the going to get that sh*t fixed! I don't think Diane (girl with big bust), Jill (girl with thong hanging out), Sandy (girl with nice a$$), etc, etc, etc, x10 WANT to be my friend, because I'm such and attractive and handsome dude with a great personality. I read that myspace gets more 'page views' than anyone on the web, even google, well I have officially turned MY myspace notifications off, and if I wouldn't get great music references from the site, this spamming that they can't seem to fix has brought me to my last straw.

Sad part about it when you look at these for lack of a better term 'hot chick spammers' on myspace, you look at their 'friend list' and there's all these meatheads posting comments, 'baby you're hot' etc, etc, etc. Poor folks, don't know that they are victims of some desperate porn rings attempt at making money to pay the rent. Why stoop so low as to porn spam myspace, and how gullible do you have to be to fall for it?

PS -- Do you think 'Tom' gets a lot of 'tail' from that job? hahahaha

across the planes of texas, from sea to shining sea

i'm blogging because i stayed with mike d last night, and he wakes up at the crack of dawn.

i'm going to be one of the bloggers that rants about the 911 show on abc, man what a mess, sure it's a drama, but the ideas hold true. the institutions are intact to prevent terrorism, we just have to use them, instead of everyone acting like kids. who cares if it was clinton getting a bl*wjob, bush talking to elementary school kids (the only people he understands, and vice versa), or if you work for the FBI, CIA, military, etc, etc --- what fell thru the cracks can be of simply deduced to kids arguing and one saying, 'I don't want to play anymore, I'm going to take my ball home.'

I'm a patriot, I love America and always have just as much as these 'bandwagon patriots.' What the movie said that I tend to gravitate towards is that after 911, terrorism will not considered a crime anymore, rather a war. So what you got all over the world (esp after the infamous 'axis of evil' speech) is nutjobs using a hatred for the United States as political fuel for their causes. Iran says, f*ck you Bush, we are going to enrich uranium, N. Korea, yea we are gonna launch some test missiles, like it or not. one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. The neo-conservatives in this country try to say that 'the places that harbor terrorists' aren't safe, meaning that anywhere there is a 'terrorist' is fair game. Can everyone see the absurdity in this wack a mole hunt for terrorists? Many people think all the availble terrorists in the world just hopped a plan to baghdad and started fighting 'for terrorists sake', this is totally absurd. these people are smarter and lighter on their feet than us, and by no means structured, mobilized or organized, and THAT is their power. all it takes is a few bad people in ANY place with a political agenda (i.e., Germany, Spain, FLORIDA, etc) to cause 911.

You don't fight 'a war' on terror with conventional bombs, in this case you fight it with less beurocracy and intelligence and greater identity control. THINK PEOPLE, look past the blue and the red and the real issues, it was a collective f*ckup, and let's learn from it, so that the 911 commission report card thingy shows all A's.

And for the record, I know when Baghdad and Kabul are safe when GW sends the twins down there to party.

A Man in my Shoes Runs a Light, All the Papers Lie Tonight, But Falling Over You, Is the News of the Day

Ga Ga Goo Goo, for the Counting Crows and the Goo Goo Dolls at VWA, my old stompin' ground. Backdrop was great, hangin' out in the cheap seats as it rained, which would be not that great, but since it hasn't rained in forever, it added to the enjoyment of the evening.

Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows both played to the audience, one point Mr Goo took a mexican flag from the audience and draped himself in it, while Mr Crow gave his two cents about voting and aids, and the list seemed to go on and on.

It sure was an evening for 'soft rock' as the sign depicts, just look at big ol' mean bob lookin' like a pretty boy in front of the sign.

Ran into Kurtis Pohl on the evening, and he HAD to have been there for the chicks he was with, throughout the night I bashed the Goo Goo Dolls, and as a spoof I would look him in the eyes and say things like 'And I'd Give Up Forever to Touch You', in fine goo fashion. I remember y'all girls trying to get me to buy y'all a beer, tough luck, but I'm glad y'all had luck with Kurt.

The umbrellas came out, made for some great visuals of the place. The highlight of the evening was the Crows playing 'The Ghost in You' --- and come on, you have to play Mr Jones EVERY F*CKIN' NIGHT OF THE TOUR, that just like going to see Skynard and they don't play Freebird!?!?

Maybe some other time I'll go on with a trip down memory lane about these tunes as I jammed them in High School.

All in all, it was a great vibe to be back in San Antonio (did I just say that?) -- A toast to my homie Steve, still escorting the rich people in the VIP.

Running around robbing banks all wacked off of Scooby Snacks

9.30am -- Tam comes to me and says 'I'm sick of this sh*t, SQL Reports, Crystal Reports, f*ck, I wish these people would make up their minds, this sh*t isn't compatible, and I don't like working with this old sh*t.

Which got me thinking about the language of a true techie, and how I'm in many ways a technologist at heart. What other jobs changes so quickly, and what more difficult of an area is integration than in technology, it's difficult to do it well (and is amazing that mother nature does it perfectly, just wait till she burps us off the planet.)

Problem with technology is a career path, I'm 'Senior Programmer,' where else do I have to go, 'Senior Senior Programmer?' Truth is I want to pursue a career in which I'm able to make decisions that count, and I really don't want to talk about data grid optimization and information technology information libraries for the next 20 years.

Different sh*t, different day at my job, that's the ONLY thing I like about it. Where else can you wear so many different hats, kinda like growing up in a small town, you could play all sports, etc. Problem is you would think one day the boat will sink, be rest assured, taxpayer dollars will keep it afloat, and be sure to jump off before it hits the iceberg.

Jobs in technology create the most interesting people, just walk around a typical IT shop and you could put a pretty good band together, collaborate and expand the imagination in regards to outer space, nanobots, codes, and surprisingly enough, history. How else would I have known the decembrists were a bunch of nobel russian (i'd say the t word, the p word, or the c word but people don't like those words) wimps that foiled the first Russian revolution.

Whatever the career (god pity the accountants), I'm glad there's great people around the world fighting the good fight, and keeping things running, so I can have food on the table, gas in the car, and a Goo Goo Dolls / Counting Crows concert (I'll be sure to bring the lighter). I wonder if the Counting Crows realized the irony of the cover of 'Big Yellow Taxi' by Joni? As for me, I diversify my stock as a human being, because a one track minded mofo ain't no fun to talk with.

pure energy

every 'good' writer has a point to writing, well that makes me NOT a good writer, but here's a state of the union address of random musings and points to ponder. everything hits at once like spoon says, but when does it stop hitting?

i've come to the dreaded fork in the road in many aspects of my life, unfortunately being a high strung individual, either road doesn't seem like its more or less work, because things are what you make of them. i tend to make good at what i do, but there is self inflicted emotional baggage and stress that follows me any and everywhere i go. i've got two headhunters looking for me a job in europe, studying, transitioning out of a role at the non-profit i help with, and if that all works out, i sell my vdub, and i'll be vacationing to all sorts of places, hoping the socialists don't tax all my money away. i suppose the road 'more travelled' is a domestic job, job follows pmp cert, place of my own to live follows new job, and it will be 5 minutes away from where i work.

love gets you in the gut. last friday night i spent the evening downing a few beers on the patio, playing chess on the internet, and also having a talk with my close friend erin from age six, and damn she puts things into perspective. we talk about love and fidelity, and boil it down to, and most have probably heard this before, but it was new to me.....'the man needs to feel respected, the woman needs to feel loved', basically in some way shape or form....or some shit is hitting some fan.....seems easy i suppose, i ask her 'what's my problem', and she says that i'll have to go thru an 'adjustment' phase in which i have to adjust to being a 'boring' person before i can choose to be a domesticated person. i understand her point, point taken, but my counter-question is where does the color go once people are committed. in gaining security and stability, why is charisma and color lost? why do the single chicks wear 'belly shirts' and committed chicks opt for comfort? do people who decide to be committed sit back and think....hmmm 'where will this be in 5 years, how bout 10, how bout 20' and make their decisions with future implications in mind? sure things have gotten harder in life, my momma and daddy lived acrossed the street from each other, and fell in love and made a practical love work, being great mates for each other, and for sure great parents to all 8 of us kids. but at this day and age, the flat world, hot or not, eharmony, and all the sinnin' and lustin' goin' on at the bars, there is an abundance of choice and temptation, hence, 'true love' is truly something special these days. true love is when your gal can look at the chick wearing the 'belly shirt' and not feel insecure that her man wants to 'hit that sh*t.' when it's right, a nice butt will only get you by for 15 minutes, after that, you have to stand for something. it comes down to inspiration....someone who leaves the stars in your belly, or the butterfly feeling in the stomach..... i think that's the case.

uncertainty is in the air in my life, tis' a blessing and a curse. the love bug is also in the air, mike d....hold out on me brotha, you are the only one left!

Tiny Bubbles in the Wine, Make Me Happy, Make Me Feel Fine

Everyone knows it as the place just above Waco where you stop and get kolaches and other Czech pastries, but on labor day weekend, it's home to the Westfest. Personally I know the Czech Stop as a place to grab a Red Bull and gas on the way home from concerts in Dallas. Once we had to pick my English buddy Neil up from the Dallas airport, and while driving thru Waco, he said in his British accent 'Holy Shit Mate, this is Waco, is this where the Branch Davidians did their thing.' Indeed it is.

This celebration is just as fun as the Wurstfest, nope, that's not the god bless America red, white and blue in the tent, that's the colors of the Czech Flag.

There were many activities in which i partook for the evening, one of them being an authentic Czech clothing catwalk, in which I actually got to meet Ms. Czech Texas!

Jeannie let 'the husband' go to the event, which was great, considering I drank 5 tall boys of Coors (beer strong enough for a man, made for a woman).

Kyle had an excellent time on the evening, eating cotton candy, checking out the petting zoo, and riding the mini montana rusa, one that I myself would probably be scared to go on!

I enjoyed myself so much, I actually think I'll be heading back next year, situated on gently rolling hills, authentic food and beer and outfits, and don't forget the polkas.

And for the record, my brother Ronnie did make that accordion smoke.

Somewhere beyond the sea, Somewhere waitin’ for Me

Until one of the three pirates call and offer me a job galavanting around the world while the authorities play wack-a-mole with them, the perils of finding an overseas job have left me exhausted. YES, that job does require travel! (by the way, I don't advocate pirating music, but I do love to download a live concert or two every now and then for nostalgias sake, and until the pearl jam system of buying a copy of every live concert they've ever done is available, good luck with the shins releasing the epic performance at the hollywood bowl for retail.)

I'm not looking for a job selling currywurst on the side of the street, I'm looking for a job that can offer a standard of living that allows me to travel once I'm there. Here's some of the challenges I've faced thus far.

1. DOD -- Department of Defense, for a company to run this check to get you 'top secret' clearance, a mere 45,000 USD. You ain't gettin' my a$$ out there for bootcamp, and being trained to see the world, meet people, kill em' type mentality, or even to support such a mentality.
2. Foreign Language -- I have conversational German skill....Ummm, no I can't read a technical contract, no I don't know how to say 'federated identity' in German....ummm, but I'm eager to learn?
3. Visa -- Working for a Germany organization, wish it was as easy to get a work visa as it is to get a Visa / Mastercard, but unfortunately this isn't the case.
4. Skillsets -- I'm a developer, you can write code anywhere, to get user requirements for a system, do project management, or write functional specifications, back to the foreign language thing -- that's the only value added items that require co-location.
5. Resumix -- So many turdbuckets (I'm one of em') apply for these monster and usajobs type postings, that a shitty resume keyword reader scans your keywords and 'matches' you with the job posting. I'm not to the point where I want to have 17 different versions of the resume roaming around.

I suppose if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything, and I still have my mind on it, however my current job makes me happy (If you believe that, you will also believe that Nickelback is the greatest rock band of ALL TIME.)

There's a Soul Out There That's Yours To Find, Set your Spirit Free

Things are boring these days, good boring, but the restless spirit is ready to jump out. The great thing about being single is that I'm getting all my selfishness out.

Little Sister to Sister 7 to Patrice Pike to getting kicked off 'Rockstar Supernova.' Hmmm, I wonder what....wonder what perry farrell would think of dave navarro, tommy lee and metallicock dude don't really count. I remember listening to Little Sister back in college, before the sellout, and yet another sellout to be on rockstar.

Needless to say, none of those wannabe's can match the beautifully bizarre moves of Jane's Addiction, a beautiful freak who has done a lot for music. Damn I just love it when Flea wears a dress!

Taking a page out of the Nixon's book, or Leap of Faith's book, the answer to 'when is it going to rain' question was answered today. Woke up, and holy shit, it was raining, so obviously I avoided the rain.

What's occupying my airwaves is the brilliant ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, did everyone know he was the 5th Travelling Wilbury, and he (Jeff Lynn) produced the two latest Beatles songs, obviously the ones without John Lennon. Not to mention they made amazing vidoes for the time. Also noteworthy is duke special, charlotte gainsbourg and --- well, that's about it.

This weekend I'm excited for two reasons....

1 ---- The West Fest, a big Czech festival in the town of west, where my brother will be tearing up the accordian....can you tear up an accordian?

2 ---- The doc's engagement part, and plenty of doctails...here's to fat beer bellies all over the world!

September is going to be a very blogworthy month, lots of interesting and exciting events!

Burning Every Bridge that I Cross, To Find Some Beautiful Place to Get Lost

Today I'm finding it difficult to blog about the stuff in life that's actually important. As the Diz and I remembered 'the good ol days,' it inspired me to sit back and write about what it means to be an idealist and an individualist in this world, and how the world needs more of these people. (yea, I'm a self-centered ass blog post)

In the midst of the highs and lows of life, in the middle of typical growing pains, etc, the question I pose to idealists is 'when do you anchor', and accept 'love' as 'love,' and progress as a human being. There are times when life has been shaken and stirred, and it's not the time to run and hide, but rather the time to offer moral support to those in need.

I've come to figure out my definition of true friendship. True friendship means accept Robert as Robert, Billy Bob as Billy Bob, and Betty Sue as Betty Sue, friendship is a two way street, as long as you give and receive support, there isn't anything to criticize a person for, it's just knowing the person, and accepting them for who they are, and understanding that people have flaws, and they shouldn't be judged for these flaws, but rather to be supportive to friends who have flaws and are trying to work thru them.

As it all unfolds, all you fine people, know that I'm there for support, and I applaud the courage and bravery of people who take the hard road.

Drunk on Dreams I'm Glad I Didn't Say Out Loud

The annual 'Keep Austin Weird' festival today, where tons of people run the 5k, and then listen to bands on Auditorium Shores. I don't know about how I feel about the mass commercialization of keeping my town weird. This years festival was brilliant, for as the sun went down, the weather was beautiful. This year the everything was for the benefit of the Austin Music Foundation.

No marquee bands, but still a great time, and the city backdrop was beautiful. It's amazing was a great feeling you have when you are somewhere you haven't been in a long time. Here's 'Mr I can get in anywhere with all these wristbands.'

Austin is getting this flame twirlers in by the dozens it seems, stunning visuals as dusk that no camera can capture to its fullest.

Ashley and her hula hooping friend did their part to keep Austin weird, dressing up as fairy people, or something like that.

Nice to also see Jenny K and Jamie C at the last minute. Yea, Mike D and I were the stinky ones in the Gingerman, and there's no way the 'fine people' at 219 would have let us in the doors.

Laughing Like Children, Living Like Lovers, Rolling Like Thunder Under the Covers

post pending

Who Got the Love, Who Got the Fresh-E-Freshy, Who Got the Only Sweetest Thing in the World

First time for everything and this is the first blog posting coming from a MAC! Yippie, I feel cool just being able to type on one.

There's a few things I REALLY like about the MAC, for one, they have the volume controls figured out, one source controls everything, Itunes, the speakers, the works. Damn can't Gates figure that out yet? Also the 'side click' is a pretty cool feature, and the built in camera is cool. Can't you see I was very enthusiastic at work today?

For the record, our agency website looks like shit in safari.

It's a Major Minor Detail, On a Misty Morning M Train

Get small, think big --

It's fascinating the wealth of knowledge out here on the Internet, and how it is ever so slowly changing how things are done.

Everyone is entitled to the same information, it's really up to you what you decide to digest. I've been reading Mark Cuban's blog and also Seth Godin, both offering a wealth of knowledge and insight and flow of ideas. Amazing, these people aren't scared of people ripping off their ideas, and the next worthless chain of command you have to deal with at your job, seek safety in these courageous types that aren't afraid to let the information flow. Who better to learn from than someone who's 'made it.'

Amazing that you can now watch videos given by speakers at Google, in which I'm sure Google has spent amazing amounts of money to have these experts give speeches, having billions of dollars comes generosity I suppose. It's quite a bit more captivating and convenient than your local public library.

Speaking of other things, Berkeley does webcasts of courses, and Jimmy R shows you all kinds of goodies you can get for free on the web.

As the world changes, ever so slowly, as it right sizes, I can only hope to prepare myself for future opportunities, and perish the thought position little Roberts or little Roberta's with a level or equal playing field in the next generation.

All the information is out there, just gotta know where to look, grab and embrace.

Wild Geese that Fly with the Moon Their Wings

Tonight, a bike ride of monumental proportions. The isolated back roads from Shiner to Sweet Home, in the pitch black wilderness. I would have snapped some pictures, but alas they would have all been black. All totalled about 23 miles, Bob and I plan on the 'extreme' bike rides, so when BASH actually comes along, we are going to go, wow, this is easy.

Here's some of the challenges we encountered...

1. It's the semi same route the locals take while consuming beer, yea, having a few beers and driving home. Therefore our mere flashlight seemed like nothing for trucks coming around the corner in the pitch black on a one lane highway.
2. Yea, we encountered a few dogs, luckily Bob can bark like a mean dog and it scared the other dogs away
3. You can hear coyotes, but Bob says they Coyotes are more afraid of us than we are of them.
4. At one point there was something in the ditch that was following us, but we could see, so we just dropped down a gear and high tailed it out of there.
5. We stumble on a party out in the middle of nowhere, we think about crashing and grabbing a beer for the way home, but opted out.

red cans

Performance, not really my cup of tea, but in one of these little red cans lurks my friend Ashley. I went on the 'pay as you wish day' Thursday, The 'Odd Center' off East 7th, the performance surely does its part to 'keep Austin weird.'

I met the director dudes at an earlier sitting, nice enough folks. In fact, the tall one was at the door greeting everyone, he was looking a mix between homeless and special, and I didn't recognize him because he was wearing a wig. Little did I know his little dog too in fact would be a star of the play.

The physical aspect of this show is noteworthy, these small people stuff themselves into cans, and hop around the stage in the dark, I suppose that in itself is challenging.

Since no words, everything is interpretative, since I'm more analytical than artsy, a lot of times I didn't get it, but many times, as people were laughing in the audience, more often than not, the show 'made me feel bad inside,' that was my interpretation.

Since it's the last weekend, I'm not going to spoil anything by saying that the cans seem to kill each other, and themselves as well. See that big one, it tears the sh*t out of the little ones, it morphs, it wiggles around, it changes ownership, all while the little cans are fighting, killing, and throwing the 'dead' bodies into a tiny cage (4 people stuffed into this thing at the end.)

The little critters even steal shoes from the audience, that was my favorite part of the play, when the cans got in a circle and had a 'shoe dance' or something like this.

What does it all mean? Has society gone to hell and it makes human live in red cans, and the environment can't sustain human life outside the can? Do humans evolve from red cans? Is it survival of the fittest? Who knows? Kudos Ashley, you did good, I enjoyed it --- 7 out of 10.

It's Easy to See, To See Only White Where Colour Should Be

Life and business, and how it applies to programming, specifically two types of programming, structured and service oriented. I used to do structured programming (a life doomed to hell) with dudes named Joe, Jim and Bill (they called me Bob) who were all over age 50, then object / service oriented (still a life doomed to hell). I'm stressing there is a time and a place for both, it all depends on where you fall in the spectrum.

They are vastly different techniques, and I do generalize, but hey let's shoot for a nice balance between attention span, quasi informative post, and perhaps some lame abstractions and analogies that will probably make everyone confused.

Structured Programming / Life -- Sees light at the end of the code. Life as a COBOL programmer consisted of 4 environments, writing a shitload of code to create a report with groupings, it almost felt like writing a book....ever see code like this "write detail line after advancing one line"....well it exists. it's really boring shit, but it gets the job done. There are structured people everywhere fighting the good fight keeping the systems of the world running, they are what make the world go round, however, not very flexible, scalable, interoperable, or efficient.

Service Oriented Programming / Life -- Seeing a broad pallet of color. It says grab some stuff from here, grab some from here, whoeva does it better, let's do it that way. Understanding the true meaning and benefit of inheritance is the key to this style, and surely applies to life. It means taking those tidbits of life that you know are gems, allow them to flow thru you, and the better you get at this, you become more efficient and effective in life, because you serve as a conduit for great ideas. As the ideas pass thru you, stuff sticks, therefore making you a better person as well as all others who use the service. It's fast, effective and efficient.

The American Dream...how does it work, is it better to be structured or service oriented. It depends on your interpretation of what the American Dream is, but its harder to get rich without hard work. The days of a shitty techie getting paid assloads of money to write code are over, and they should be, and I'm glad for society the industry is finally 'right sized' (even though I would have liked to been around a bit earlier to exploit my piece of the pie). The structured approach doesn't lend itself well to creativity and thinking outside the box, but the potential to painfully move up the ladder is there. The service approach, you find very few making things so damn efficient, competition suffers. What it takes (if you don't have a shitload of capital) is a dedicated group of people, usually a few great management types, a few great visionary types, and a few great techie types who trust each other.

The other way is to not have a conscious, don't feel bad about charging extra money for every bit of information that comes thru the pipe. You have to have to have the balance between the gold ol' boy mentality (the boyscout), and the person who has the fuck net neutrality, let's put a meter on it and charge for every data packet on the web. Unfortunately (hahaha), I have 'nice' friends that don't have the exploitative mentality, even if the service provided benefits all parties involved.

Until the next paradigm, the days of getting rich by scaring people that computers will blow up, or trying to confuse them or bullshit them are over......... (damn).

Remember When We Used to Talk About Bustin Out, We' Break Their Hearts, Together, Forever!

A RARE weekend, Robert is in a genuinely good mood, and no it wasn't snowing, far from it as Manuelabor, Lacinator, and Fatboy without the Slim went out to the Ft Worth Stockyards. The highlight of the weekend was the drive to Sherlocks, Dallas, when we had Bon Jovi's 'Never Say Goodbye' jammin on the Monsoon system at the stoplights, you know, cool kids have to jam the f*ck out of their radios. Manuel, were you a bit embarrassed, what do you mean???? You didn't feel COOL?!?!?!

Learned a lot about Ft Worth this weekend, I've always have had respect for the city, its got great aesthetic value to it everywhere you look, but I didn't know it was 'the stock market of the south' when the cattle trades went on, etc.

Manuelabor wants to snap a picture, instead he drops my camera 1 story down on this metal roof. The camera stood there, we looked at it for 5 minutes, and then came up with a plan to get it down. This here picture shows me giving Manuel the 'dammit Manuel' look.

Look at the cowboy and cowgirl, gotta love it, I guess the one in the white is supposed to be the good cowboy and the one in the black hat is supposed to be the bad one.

Manuel trying to pick out the 'perfect hat'.

I think I look good as a bubba, maybe I should trade in my rock and roll lifestyle and become a bubba somewhere out on a farm.

Later Chris and Sheda Riveda came out and we had some brews, the Stella was hurting my belly, so we had to resort to something that was 'less filling and tastes great.' Yea I look sad in that picture, but I was having a great time. O by the way, I travel light these days, and that blue shirt is turning into my 'weekend shirt.'

An interesting scenario here. More often than not, there is a building or two or ten being imploded in Ft. Worth. They are now doing something more extravagant, they are supposed to flood this valley, and make and 'island' in the middle of the city, for the rich people to have condos. GREAT IDEA!!! ---hmmmmm.....

Here's Manuel posing in front of his surname. I'm thinking some dude is going to come out and say in his best gangsta Spanish voice "Look man I'm going to cut you if you don't get off my property."

A Manuel in jail shot, look how sad the poor dude looks, I told him, what you you had to stay there all the time, I'd come visit you every 3 or 4 months, and I'd brink you a cake with a file in it.

Lacy and Manuel, a great couple (for me to poop on --- hahahha)

Last but not least, the 'cow maze', kinda like the ones made of bushes, but this one was made of wood, something in which the cows were be ushered thru, now the human use it for cruel torture, lets pay 5 bucks and get ourselves lost in the 105 degree heat....thanks but no thanks!

DFW times are great, thanks for the great time John, M and L and the gang. Have a lovely week!

Don't Let Them Sell You Impossible Dreams, Don't be a Slave to the Beauty Regime

Songs come along that just 'touch the heart,' that are so real and so true, so positive and inspiring, so genuine and caring, songs that make you think 'the good guy will win', good beats evil, and one day people will be self actualized, and that people are on your side and willing to help.

Wow, what a run-on sentence, but you get the point, this one does it for me. Lyrics as flawless, but if you'd hear it, the general consensus would be "That shit ain't got a beat" --


The Beauty Regime
---------------------
Beat stress and rebalance your life
Make those dreams come true
Impress all your colleagues and friends
With the brand new you
So many lives condemned for no need
'Cause people don't buy the right magazine
Take a look in the mirror and see
Exactly how worthless you are
In a rut? Can't get out? Don't know why?
It's time to make that change
Cover up all the pain in your life
With our new product range
So please don't feel blue - let us show you how
To talk yourself into a good mood right now
Feeling sad is no longer allowed
No matter how worthless you are
And if your life depresses you
Just live it through your favourite movie star
Beat stress and rebalance your life
All you need to do
Is forget all the useless advice
And live your life for you
Don't let them sell you impossible dreams
Don't be a slave to the beauty regime
Look again in the mirror and see
Exactly how perfect you are

Ten Days of Perfect Tunes, The Colors Red and Blue

10 'whatevas' for the blog, random stuff, what's been occupying my thoughts and mind

10 -- Clipmarks.com, my new favorite website, lets you see numerous articles on how vile Dick Cheney is, lets you cross reference by the person who posts, you can see what's 'popular', etc. a great way to organize clippings.

9 -- Reading more of Friedman's stuff about the flat world, seems like more responsibility is falling to individuals. All this 'crazy stuff' going on in the world, if you can derive one good thing from it all is that it is making people aware, in the future, more and more people will be informed, therefore more responsible, conscious minds, possibly making it able to find more lasting solutions, no nukes no nukes!

8 -- what's jammin' in the cd player, Jose Gonzalez, Mando Diao, Divine Comedy, lots of German stuff and ummmm, billy joel and elton john?

7 -- picking your battles -- asimov believes in psycho-history (don't know if I'm spelling right) -- that the movements of one is irrelevant, the movement of masses means everything -- if you look around, and if you don't see a fly in the ointment, then YOU are that fly, find another place to shit, I mean sit.

6 -- backyards and practical life is stellar, like Ms Crow says, the good people of the world are washing their cars on their lunch breaks, hosing and scrubbing the best the can in their skirts and suits (or something like that)

5 -- Kids -- Can't really articulate, but I already understand how wonderful it must be to have 'some' of your own, adorable creatures they are, but not anytime soon.

4 -- Mantra -- It's nice to have people thinking about you, and 'praying' for you, etc -- i acknowledge there are 'good vibrations' that are sent to and fro, just haven't figured out the 'central processing unit'

3 -- Ethics -- what a crock of shit to try to teach someone this, I hate reading about this, some type A will read this shit put out in books, get questions 'right', meaning repeating what is spoon fed to you in a book. You either got it or don't, ain't no teachin' it.

2 -- Politics -- Vote for Kinky, he's great, incumbents could face stiff scrutiny from the populous who are tired of all this bullshit, hopefully that's the new trend, or 'coolness', as the world becomes more aware, as blogs become more and more trustworthy and uncensored than organized media, more and more common sense will be factored in to these brilliant minds running the world, thus retooling and rethinking, eliminating meaningless bickering amongst parties.

1 -- Down in Dallas, the neon light from the building, lets you know you're home -- This weekend going to hang out with manuelabor, haven't seen the chap in a long time, In addition, the lacinator, Erin, Erin, John, John, maybe Chris Riveda. I know the dives, and we are going dive right in.

Sorry folks, can't blog about 'partying' anymore, I'm miles away from the action, so as I just lay boring opinions out on the table, the blog stats are like the slinky going down the stairs. My niece, sister, and numerous friends say, 'Robert your blog is boring now, I don't read it anymore.'

Maybe you'll see some drunk Robert shots this weekend, and maybe sooner or later you'll be able to see some Robert in Deutschland pictures.

Till then, bis spater

Well I'm the Guy Who Never Learned to Dance, Never Even Got One Second Glance

The human element is often amusing and tragic, wicked, and confusing. I suppose the best 'shield' for these events is being aware. For the strong it's irony, for the weak it's cynicism, but however the case, we all in some way shape or form are a victim of circumstance, some can be controlled, some can't.

Mixing studying and blogging, I'm going to examine the human life cycle in parallel to the 5 project management process groups, and as I'm typing, hopefully I'll gain some insight of what can be controlled, and what is harder to control for reasons of, that's where I'm from, or this is who I am, so on and so on.

------------
Initiating
------------

Life begins, you're given the name chosen by your parents, I would have preferably got a one syllable name that rolls off the tongue, but I'm content. You learn how your limbs work, how to talk, how to eat, how to play with blocks, develop your senses, etc, but for the most part you are subject to what 'business objectives' are prescribed by your parents. You're in the world weather you like it or not, I'd say this lasts till around age 5 or 6 until organized education comes along.

-----------
Planning
-----------

Planning takes on many iterations, obviously, and 'executing' (what comes next) go hand and hand in these iterations, while you’re planning something, 'life' is what's being executed. Kinda like that slogan life happens while you are busy making other plans. Here, you work out your communication plan, decide which things YOU are interested in, you process inputs, outputs, tools and techniques and constantly 're-baseline' your life if you 'accept the change.' Re-baselining means adjusting timelines, costs, life scope, quality, risk averse-ness and other things. You figure out your thresholds, understand your strengths, threats, opportunities and weaknesses, and you carry yourself over the horizon into the brave new world, or ....not.

Planning involves breaking shit into small work chunks, WBS in the project world, thin slicing as Tipping Point guy would say. It involves having goals, deliverables, performance measures, and other that other stuff that involves practical vision (which to me is defining 'the work and only the work') needed to be done to get where you need to be.

--------------
Executing
--------------

As you execute your plans, you keep in mind assumptions and constraints. If you need a mate to be by your side to function, factor that in as a constraint, and understand there are ‘opportunity costs’ (can’t do this while I’m doing that). If you're Mr. struggling for motivation, factor in the possibility of opportunities that would facilitate constant brilliance, instead of 'spurts of brilliance.' Our British brothers fought the war for the free modern world back in the day, fighting the good fight, down on their luck (it's tough, yea it's tough), and when 'reinforcement' comes, the 'project win WWII' is able to be fast tracked and crashed, moral is up, and good risk, or opportunities occur. So, if you plan for problems, they don't own you, if good luck and opportunity find you but you weren't expecting it, your challenges are all of a sudden shaking in their Nike's, or Reebox's, or whatever.

Getr' Done, as the stereotypical Texan would say, this doesn't include sleeping on the job, 'gold plating', making excuses....the precursors are simple, have a plan and follow it.

----------------------------
Monitoring and Controlling
----------------------------

This is where you constantly evaluate what's going on in your life, and make corrective measures if your performance measures are swaying too much from your baselines. It also involves accessing risk and opportunity. If the "I'm being a lazy ass" meter is high and in the red, if the 'man this isn't getting me anywhere meter' is high, etc --- figure out corrective measures or follow contingency plans. For me this means, biding my time, like the running back that gets the ball handed to him, he's got to 'wait for the hole to form', same here, why hop to the next lily pad till you have a rock solid plan. Some have scolded me, saying that I’m rotting away at this hell hole, and my simple response is, and I quote "I'm not hopping to the next lily pad, It's more like Neo jumping to the next building," and that takes careful planning, and flawless execution, not to mention a big set of cajones.

---------------
Closing
---------------

Haven't thought about this one, but the inevitable 'closing' is when your worm food or ashes, whatever you wish, or your loved ones wish. If you take consideration for the rest of the process groups, and you somewhat follow this methodology, it really doesn't matter 'when the end comes,' for you've lived a fulfilled life to the extent of what you could do, or dream, working your talents against your weaknesses and constraints.

-------------
Closing statements -- Many 'music philosophers' have talked about 'the dance' and how it represents life. Life's a dance you learn as you go, sometimes you lead sometimes you follow......I could have missed the pain, but I'd a had to miss the dance.......etc.

Personally I don't really like the analogy, I was / am an awkward kid, I don’t dance, but I'm bouncin' thru life pretty good, and the best is yet to come.

And there ain't no nothing we can't Love each other Through

Sorry family and friends for the lame Family Ties reference and double negative, but I do love you guys, and the fact that we are all so different and still get along is, for the lack of a better word, awesome.

First pic, Brad, Josh and Corey and Mr Army shorts. Amazing how better it feels playing baseball when you didn't have 22 bud lights the night before. Tomorrow my back will hurt, not to mention this big throbbing blister on my hand from swinging the bat with the boys.

Then there's the Tran Clan, Alissa, Ayden, Krysi and Al. These little ones are yes, my great niece and nephew. Thru the day Al told me of the dangers of going to Baghdad and probably said it wasn't in my best interest, no matter what the money was. But it seems anywhere I went that has a TCP/IP internet connection I'd be just fine.

The men of the family had the traditional polka fest outside, while my brothas played trumpets and accordian. The 'crowd favorite' is always, 'In Heaven there is no beer.'

Gavin, who plays around in the dirt all day is always ready to pose for the camera. There's a lot of dirt around, considering our reunion is where the FFA has their livestock show every year.

Strange, this year the 'insiders' (people who hang out on the inside) play Bunko instead of Bingo, and Grant, the little dude at the far end is playing, and 'bless his heart', the dude starts losing and starts weeping, it was a trip, 'homeboy' takes his Bunko seriously I suppose.

Other items of note, brotha Derwin's 72 corvette is fully restored, and now he's got a 69 camaro, damn what a man!

Painting my Room in a Colorful Way, and When My Mind is Wandering, There I will Go

Fixing a Hole is right. The 'main event' for the day for Bob wasn't the 20 miles on the bike, but the adventure after the bike ride.

Since in many ways I'm 'Princess Robert', I ask, 'Bob, can you dig this hole for my mailbox?'. Bob says, sure, it'll only take 30 minutes. So here's Bob slavin' away with a post hole digger while I offer moral support.

All fine and dandy until Bob hits the unmarked shit pipe, and contrary to popular movies, shit didn't fly up everywhere, but we could smell it.

Shit happens, In the course of it all I got a nice tan on my bald head.

Later that evening, I eat with the family, drink a few beers while geeking out at Antiques, Art, Beer, and then retire on the couch watching Tango and Cash. Brother in law asks what I did the next day, I tell him, and his rebuttal is, "Damn, that's pathetic." ---whateva

Every Dog Must Have His Every Day, Every Drunk Must Have His Drink

Pre-family reunion weekend brings the 'partying' faction of the family to Howard's place in Shiner. Here are my second cousins (John, Justin, Jamie) and I. Nevermind all those beer bottles, must have been someone elses....?

Then there's the uncles from 'that part' of the family, Douglas and Donnie, lots of fun hanging out with these folks, I tried to get them wound up, and see where the conversation goes, I usually succeed and the conversation goes to some interesting and wonderful places, I suppose it's what makes the world go round.

Hats off to Justin (Wheelo) with his new $45,000 pick em up truck.....ummm, damn Wheelo, does that thing give head for that much???? --hahahaha

The Stars that we Follow Can Lead Us Astray...I'll Plough my own Furrow, I'll Go my own Way

A sign of age is the 'advice' you give to people. Nowadays the only advice I give to people can be summed up in one sure fire sentence. Be honest with yourself, and do whatever truly makes you happy in life, but make decisions for yourself, for only you have to wake up and be yourself in the morning. Bad George Bush grammar and Mike Brady preaching aside, its gonna be one of those wordy pointless blog entries.

I'm rockin the suburbs, they say wherever you go, there you are, and these burbs aren't bad. Sure I'd love to be a downtown boy right now, and for the long haul, but until I find a sugar mamma, or at least become a DINK, that ain't gonna happen. There's some cool stuff out here, cept my running trail right now is along Gattis School Road, feels like I'm about to get run over every second of my trek. I enjoy watering the grass, and my whole life I've wanted one of these sprinklers, just so I could watch it crawl across the yard. I've been eating some strange shit lately since the family is in Florida. Last night I made a big ass tuna patty, with some crumbled crackers, ketsup, and a few eggs to keep all that shit together. It sounds nasty but is actually pretty good.

Suburban friends are different from urban friends in refreshing ways. No they're not as 'cool', but they are cool in a different sort of way, better priorities, and they seem to have a much clearer mind (and strangely enough, not because they are turned off), most being settled.

That's enough defense on the burbs, don't get me wrong, when I start making some bucks....Inner city shanty with great local....here I come.

I've had plenty time to jam the guitar lately, been learning a lot of Shins tunes, Billy Bragg, Chris Isaak (as if I don't play that shit enough), and others, just browse the directory and see where it stops. Spin the bottle Internet tab searching style. Catching up with the overhead of life too, the VDub is squeaky clean, its refreshing to look at NADA, and even with 60k on it, its valued at about 20k. Word of advice, get a car with some bling, and it doesn't depreciate as fast.

Landing contracts to do work, and then collaboration with a group to get the work done. I think this is what I'm going to be doing in the future, my 'where do I want to be in 5 years' plan. Hard work, people you know (or the other word that rhymes with know) will get you 20% of the contract if it lands in 'the system.' Then all you have to do is do the work. Sounds like not too hard, and a win win model, the key is trust. It's amazing the lack of trust in the modern world, and I'm confident with trust it will all work.

PMP Shizzz -- yea the studying will commence again next week, hardcore. Books that I don't like reading are a pain in the a$$. I suppose this time I should actually READ the PMBOK instead of looking at the pictures.

Stay tuned for another fun and adventure filled weekend in Shinertown. I'm going to post some pictures of Bob and I Saturday, as we break the 15 mile mark again, look for sunburnt bald head and pasty white legs! Damn, with that combo, just can't keep the birds (british slang for chicks) off me! ---hahaha

Hottie Burns Hair Off Robert's Chest

Sittin' in at my hair appointment is always interesting, I always seem to make a new friend. This time is was, man I can't think of her name, but another 'hot' one, as she prods me with the laser for an hour in a half, we talk about all sorts of stuff, and at the end she goes, 'wow you're a fun person.'

Typical questions include ----

....ummm, So, seen any movies lately?
....ummm, Did you watch Oprah yesterday?
....ummm, Are you a beach person or a mountain person?
....ummm, Do you believe in miracles?

Always so bubbly and happy, I can't seem to break it to them that I'm the one of the more cynical f*cks on the planet, so I just go with the easy topics, don't bring up anything that someone doesn't understand, and it will keep conversation flowing freely and win friends, not great friends, just friends.

When the Lights Go Down in the City, and The Sun Shines on the Bay

I'm white trash rich today, but after the bills are paid, the carriage turns back to a pumpkin. A night out on the town with my cousin the football coach was great, as downtown was riddled with 'Welcome Coaches' signs everywhere.

You see, my cuz Donnie loves this girl to no end, and she seems to be interested in him, and its a very....ummm,......for lack of a better word 'cute' thing to see, for I know him as being football coach and teaching meatheads how to tackle people and things like that.

Donnie was telling me about the Def Leppard / Journey concert he went to a few weeks back, how Journey is on their 3rd lead singer, and how the show kicked a$$. I recall the first time I heard "Lights," riding around with my brother as a young kid, going f*ck me -- these dudes are amazing! While I was 8ish, I then had my ears tuned to Wheel in the Sky, Faithfully, Open Arms....the hits go on, and I even bought the Journey Escape video game for the Atari, which was 26 bucks, a lot of money back in the day, but I 'played it till my fingers bled' -- dodging the falling guitars, drums and pianos, etc.

Well the Stella was right on track for Don, we had a great night catching up with family gossip, Mike D probably was hanging out going "Huh" half the time as we talked about the cool people, the weird people, and all the others.

This weekend I have a family reunion, and to keep the blogs flowing, I'll blog in detail about funny family stuff later, It's not too hard to come up with content! ---hahaha