This Gun's For Hire, Even If We're Just Dancin' in the Dark

First off, I LIKE this place, Mohawk Austin, it's a proper place to chill have a beer, great indoors, great outdoors, great upstairs, great lighting, great prices, great entertainment, yea.

Sarah B, my Austin friend displaced in NYC was in for a visit. As she tells me how to 'make your small Brooklyn apartment comfortable, we soak up the atmosphere.

Speaking up soaking up, Ashley and Mike D came out later in the evening, and while Sarah B and I were drinking some intoxicating wheat beers, Ashley and Mike D opted for for the liters of Dos XX. And yes, the beers are bigger than Ashley's head!

Other pictures for the evening, geeze I just can't seem to get ride of those chins or those baby fat cheeks. Patience on the pictures, I'm trying to get a 'system' down in this CSS universe. Ugly but work in progress.

The Gossip's Bearing Down on Me, The Kids are Pairing off in Front of Me, I Should've Stayed Home

If I had a slogan to put on a bumper sticker, or one to articulate what I was thinking in the picture below, the tag line is what it would be. I'm sure that's what I was thinking back then, just didn't know how to explain it, in my 14 year old body.

If I can recall correctly, this was the FIRST night I went out in a social setting like this. I didn't know how to process it all, can you see the fear in my eyes, zits on my face, and hair on my head?? I went with one of the hottest girls in our class (thanks Jamie) as my date, and I was PETRIFIED of the implications of a 'date,' (still kinda am I think), so petrified that I was miserable the entire night, and had trouble looking anyone in the eye, not to mention that was one of the first time wearing a suit and all that jazz.

Yea, the picture captures adolescence at its finest, luckily the football team made me cool by saying things like 'Bruns don't wear your socks like that, etc, etc, etc --- meanwhile scratching these things down in my little notebook.'

Zits and hair gone, and the eyes a bit more seasoned, I still approach the bar scene with the same contempt. I stroll in, everything seems so fickle and shallow, not the people, just the environment and games and bad music, and the mere idea that integrity and togetherness is not rewarded in this type of environment. Like Chris Rock would say about all the hoes dancin' on the floor, 'Man, I hate to see the guy that's got to pick a wife out of this mess.'

Out with mates and dates and friends is the way to go, pub style. Good conversation is always a plus, or rather a must. Yea, that's the way to roll, for me at least, because the average girl that grinds up on me still makes me blush :( ---

He's A Bandit and a Heartbreaker, Oh But Jesus Was A Crossmaker

Mom made us go to Sunday school, to the extent that my two sisters had 14 years of perfect attendance, and I had 13 years. I still remember the Sunday I missed, I was about 12. I was really caught up in a Lost in Space episode and I couldn't be bothered to make the trip to Sunday school. Well, mum didn't talk to me for about 2 weeks, so therefore I didn't miss a Sunday ever again.

Notice 3 Bruns kids in the picture, my two lovely sisters in the back row middle and just check out that mop of hair I had on my head!

I'm glad Mom stressed for us to go to Sunday school every Sunday. If not for this, I would have slept in on Sunday most of the time, instead I always learned something, was exposed to different ideas, and met a lot of great people in the process.

Ummmm, This Used to Be My Playground??

Diggin' through an old shoe box full of pictures is always a surprise, more to come of old school pictures, for the purpose of archiving. This is in Shiner, Texas, the little league team 'The Mints,' circa, damn I can't even remember. ('Mints' because we were sponsored by the First National Bank, Shiner....I think)

Actually our uniforms, especially our hats looked liked pirates, arg! We were the best team in the league two years in a row. Just look at that dorky PiMP on the far right!

This makes me think of the Feb 10th Shiner Alumni baseball game, in which the old roomies are asking me to play.....Boy that's an accident waiting to happen. I can just see myself, some little 17 year old punk pitcher throwin' a 70 mile an hour fast ball up there, I take a whiff, there goes the back.

For the record, back in the day, I either would hit a foul tip or a home run, and I didn't hit too many home runs...:(

------------------
For Blog redesign sake.....I'm workin' on a 'built in drop shadow' for my pictures Ashton, just wait, pretty soon I'm going to get you!!!

Career 2.0

Here's what I want to be when I grow up, at least for the next ten years. Everyone hears about web 2.0, myspace, and all the other goodies out there to digest on the web today, but I think very few understand shortcoming of the digital era and what impedes its growth.

For those of you who have been trapped inside a closet, there is a social revolution going on, and technology is driving initiatives which crush borders and streamline communication among different human 'digital services.'

Today, people are able to be heard, they are able to interact interesting ways, and they are able to participate in digital communities all around the globe. 'Entities' can / will / and are exploiting these social circles not only for monetary benefits, but for power and influence as well. This is nothing new, but its just much more easier and much more in depth in this day and age. It's subtle, but over time, anything you do on the web is 'in the system' and is used for historical trend analysis (i.e. Google may know more about you than you know about yourself, what you were 'doing' 4 years ago that you probably can't remember, etc)

Which begs the need for an identity management system, where the individual is put in the center of this ring of chaos, and they control the content they wish to have on the web, they control which entities they decide to interact with, they have more control over their personal information and thus more control of their lives. A few players are emerging in this 'battle' for federated identity (as it pertains to the web), OpenID, Cardspace, as well as a collage of products from IBM. These players are counting on a ring of trust and compatibility that will put the individual at the center of a happy circle of confidence.

Crazy thing is all this is brand new, the problem has been there for a while, but its really just now starting to be addressed, therefore we are on the forefront of what could be one of the 'coolest' (in the uncool 'professional' sorta way) undertakings of our time, with implications all over the place.

I'm reading a white paper that explains the challenges in 4 different views, Social, Technical, Legal, and business, I'll spout my two cents on what each of them mean to me, based on my knowledge of the subject.

Social - You ever stop to think about what kinda teen drama (and even adult drama) goes on in the confines of myspace? As the web gets more usable, interactive and popular, think about that sorta drama on a 'world wide web' basis. Think about the instances you could be victim of someones rant, and think about instances where privacy does matter, even in a social environment, especially when it comes to the integration of ideas (i.e. merging your blogger account with last.fm with your wiki site, (or obviously something with greater stakes) etc, etc). With a proper identity online, this aids in accountability of the things you say and the things you do on the web, and could perhaps provide a means of getting slander or other bad stuff 'out of the system.'

Technical - Besides Skip, Microsoft and Tivoli, all sorts of institutions will begin to spring up to 'hold' your identity, and the technology is going to have to provide a means for you the individual to 'use' your personal information and credentials at different services, i.e. banks, academia, employment, government, etc, etc. Hence federation of identity. I still think the major players are still scratching their heads on this one, but when the dust settles, the individuals will climb aboard a system that they trust is safe and easy to use. I believe this to be a big challenge.

Legal - It ain't in the books yet (OJT IT IS), so another facet of challenge. It's interesting to watch different groups fumble around with DRM laws, and interesting how A**le is the biggest supporter of DRM, in lieu that music downloading service they have. When it comes to digital law and digital content, I believe the creative commons has it down, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation currently works to protect your digital identity. Think about how much easier this would be if they had a way to uniquely identify your identity across websites. This is the foundation for lawyers to protect you from 'bad things' on the web.

Business - Decentralization is cutting into the profit margins of all digital content providers, and step one isn't DRM (don't you get pissed when you buy a 'music player' and it doesn't do mp3, or wma, or mp4, ogg, etc, etc, etc), it's an identity metasystem that works across the board. Also, this goes back to the good ol' supply chain management, streamlining interactions between your buyers and sellers, therefore reducing 'cost per transaction,' therefore making some CEO happy, hey, maybe that will be me one day. :) -- It also helps corporate infrastructure with 'user maintenance,' and provides 'single sign-on' access for different systems and different applications.....blah blah blah....

One may ask, well how does this help people? Off the top of my head I can think of a few things. Think about every time you search for something at Google, think about a 'quasi fascist' politician fighting the 'war on terror' subpoena'ing information from your Google account. Well, you're not a terrorist, but we found this, this, and this suspicious behavior.......It's that 'slippery slope' people often talk about. Think about all the websites you have to sign up for a new account with...I do about 5-6 per week. Think about how convenient it would be to have your information in one place and these websites work around you. Think about identity theft and misrepresentation. Think about all the personalized spam you receive and how to combat that. Bad people go pfishing, if you have a good identity system, what are they going to find? Think about all the walls we build in society (and even on borders< &#^%!) -- With better identity control, once your 'in the system,' as long as there is nothing at stake that is exposed, a bad guy goes, it sucks in here, I'm leaving. Think about being able to reduce artifically produced viral marketing. The list can go on and on and on.

To conclude, this stuff spans many knowledge areas, it will always be exciting and heated, I'm thinking your selfish, greedy, and especially control freaks type people won't get what all the hub-bub is about, while the road is being paved around them. This is the revolution, and I believe we as a society for the sake of progress need to put a 'meter' on it......a meter that 'works' for all parties involved, with concessions being made by all parties.

Ahoy mate.......land!!! The ship moves, but it moves slowly.

The Party is Jumpin', With the Bass Kicked in and the Vegas are Pumpin'

Guess global warming is influencing the weather in South Texas. Once in 86 I built a snowman, there was enough snow, I've never made a snow angel, its on the 'to do' list.

What I CAN do almost every year is set a pitcher of water on the porch, and to my excitement in the morning after a nice freeze, I get to see the water frozen. :) --- Cheap entertainment I tell ya!

Later in the evening, The Beast comes over and we go looking for ice. At the park, it's BITTER cold, wind blowing like crazy, making my feet feel like they're going to fall off. How the heck am I going to do Everest one day.

We take a stroll down Shiner town square, not a soul to be seen, beast doing his version of Wipeout on a slippery / iced over bench.

Here's a van, completely covered in ice, was some pretty cool imagery, and the frozen beast in front of the van.

Last stop on the list, Bernie's crib for a refreshingly warming cocktail. Beast is growing long hair again, If it wouldn't be for that beard, I couldn't tell these two dudes apart!

We contemplated 'wimping out' and getting a ride home, but Bernies Bronco had the ice coat on it as well. Instead we humped it a tad bit over a mile against the wind to the other side of town.

The nightcap was taking some long loops on the back roads, looking for trouble (so we could help, obviously.)

I guess this sorta weather isn't pleasant for the long haul for human beings, but the rain sure does make the grass happy :)

And When you Pray for Independence, Boy, You Better Stand Your Ground

The weekly review -- let's see, the highlight of my week was Friday night, geeking out with some private stock, and listening to none other than Bon Jovi's New Jersey.

If I were a rock star from the 80's it would have to be Bon Jovi. Why you ask? Well, if you look at the track record, he's thrown the best parties, he's still together with his band, of course you have the typical track record of dating super models, he still sells out abnormally large places in Switzerland, and on top of it all, he's in control, and he's a nice guy.

It got me thinking about another nice guy, in a roundabout bizarre kinda way, Perry Farrell. First years of college I LOVED the 'Kettle Whistle' version of 'Been Caught Stealing,' in which Perry has the following one way dialogue with a 'fan(s).' I can't remember it fully, but it goes something like this.

"You guys like stealing?" -- "What about another man's girl? Would you steal another man's girl?" -- "Is there no chivalry in your soul?" --
-- "How insecure are you pal?" -- "Do you need to steal another man's girl,
or can't you find one on your own?" -- "I just wanted to ask you
that."

This got me thinking about the differences between chivalry and cowardice and how they play the role in modern day society. I don't know how I'm linking this together, but somewhere in the course of the last ten years, this is how my mind interprets things.

I would think almost everyone of us has these two traits working transparently within us. I used to be a coward in many senses, but one day something snapped in me that said, "Hey, If that dude can do it, so can I." Pointing back to Mr Wise Sondre Lerche says 'nothing stays the same, I stand in my own way,' a great line that speaks of the cliche that you yourself are your own worse enemy. (Isn't it funny how so many songs or poetry speaks of the same scenarios, but is able to phrase things differently, putting emphasis on different subtleties....---I'm sure there is a literary word for this, but I don't know it.)

Chivalry, loosely define --- brave, courteous and honourable behaviour -- (one day I'd like to write a book 'Feminism, from a dude who has sympathy to the cause --- for I believe true feminists are a 'sect' who truly 'get it,' along with true progressive patriots like MLK and this dude.

I think about how chivalry affects us as individuals. I try to take the 'high road' in times of question, because it projects 'good energy,' and there's no tellin' what your sphere of influence is most of the time, I guess you could consider it the 'role model' train of thought.....sorta. Before I go to bed, I often think about the people who are closest and dearest in my life, the ones who have played a major part in shaping who I am, people who have had a lasting contribution to my life, as certainly I give the nod to the gods to say, I wish GREAT THINGS to all these people, and I forgot who said it, but I've come to the realization, it's not a crazy life, its just life.

I believe chivalry in this day and age is support, tolerance and understanding. I've always known it's easy to turn a cold shoulder to a misunderstanding (especially when it comes to 'problems of the heart), however, I've learned if you choose not to turn the cold shoulder, you can gain a tremendous incite as to who you are as an individual human being, and that knowledge is power, at least I think it is.

There are other viewpoints.....I saw a bumper sticker...said 'Fake, It's the New Real,' and I think gee, if that is the case, my whole charade up there about chivalry is trumped by being 'fake', which is the new real in many circumstances. Being fake is an extreme form of cowardly behavior. It says, I haven't took the time to figure out who I am, and I am going to do the best imitation of myself, and mimic the fashionable trends and ways of life that are 'safe.'

I can see a light at the end of the tunnel on an idealized chivalry, and I need help to get there, and the puzzles pieces have to fall into place, and lace some luck in with it all. In the meantime, all we can do as individuals is work with who you are and what you've got, but I think most of us would be lying to ourselves if we thought we 'had it down.'

It takes courage to stand for what you believe, and often it goes un-noticed in society because fake is the new real. We live in a society where the good guy doesn't slay the dragon and save the princess, it's not that easy anymore. Now, it's inner demons, and they are worse than any sorta medieval dragon one could encounter, it DOES involve pain to look inside......but THANKFULLY (dripping sarcasm) we have a pill for that. :-)

And Your Shape on the Dance Floor, Will Have me Thinking Such Filth and Gauge my Eyes

I once heard you know you are getting old when the phone rings on a Saturday night, and you hope its not for you.

That being said, it was no problem staying home to watch The Shins performance on SNL, consider our Austin clan has been going ape sh*t over them as of late. Even though the performance was 'Phantom Limb' and 'New Slang,' its nice to see Mr Crazy James Mercer in action.

Here's a crazy Shins / Interpol / NME bickering contest which I find funny. Says Interpol and The Shins are pretty much polar opposite bands, and NME sucks. I agree with all those sentiments, and it reminds me of a buddy of mine who is a big New Order (which I think Interpol is a big rip-off, of) fan.

It's really kinda crazy, that even in the digital era, there are still people who are pretentious about music, i.e. 'my tastes are better than yours,' and I'm more exposed than you are, etc, etc. Well, there may be people that spend more time seeking out 'new talent' and things like that, but for the most part all the cross referencing mumbo jumbo out there on the web these days, anyone can be a 'pro' when it comes to 'indie' music in a short amount of time.

There comes a saturation point however, I've talked with a few friends who are big in the music scene down here, and when does it get to a point where you just can't 'fake it' anymore, and go yea, 'I know you're my friend, but really your band isn't that great..... :-(' The true talent will float to the top, and the 'myspace' exposure is there for everyone to see and enjoy, and by golly, that's how it should be.

I guess it all depends on how many 'eggs you want to put in the music basket,' and priorities will change with age and the season or whatever crisis you have at work, etc, etc. I do believe in 'trained ears' and perfect pitch, but for the most part its about opinions, and everyone's opinion counts.

I have always thought that genuine musical connections are those of 'word of mouth,' even on the advent of last.fm, amazon match, pandora, and all the other stuff......because, as a paraphrased quote once says something like ......'individuals have to feel unique, and they also have to feel they are part of a community.'

THANK GOD the indie community is growing, hopefully it will have enough muscle to take on the synthetically produced pop stars one day.

Idiot Wind Blowin' in From the Front Door, Idiot Wind Blowin' in Thru the Back

Two catalysts for this post, one, GW Bush (#%$^$%&# goof ball) says he's going to send more troops to Iraq, and two, during my hair appointment today, I spoke with a girl who's husband is over there fighting the fight.

I'll spare the media analysis on the subject of will a troop surge help or not, I'm sure there are valid arguments on either side of the coin. That being said, at first thoughts, I'm why the hell are we sending more troops, what's the plan for these peeps, and will it actually do any good.

On further thought, I'm thinking we have to chip away at the problem from every angle. As much as I don't like the idea of sending more troops to the region, perhaps it will aid in making the area more stable. As much as the average right wing nutjob doesn't like the idea, there should be dialogue with Iran and Syria about how to best handle to cultural conflict, these religious groups are seeded in these respective countries. What else can we do? we can let the UN do their job, acknowledge the Geneva Convention, and if we are going to ever act the aggressor in the future, negate the significance of things like Nuremberg Trials, otherwise war becomes a 'do as I say do, don't do as I do' agenda.

Troop surges, hmmmm, I really do support our troops and it's a shame we can't figure out that the whole 'lets force our ideology down your throat approach' to foreign policy doesn't work. What part of history do we not understand.

SINCE our troops are SMART ENOUGH, I don't see a need to privatize any efforts of war, things get icky that way really fast, just ask the dude who created 'Iraq for Sale'. Now if I were Billy Bob from Shiner, and I worked next to Mr. Haliburton, I'm getting paid 15 bucks an hour, he's getting 150 bucks per hour, well, that would lead to some moral problems to say the least. If the government of the United States has the gall to attack a country based on a hunch, leave private industry and war profiteers out of it. Now if Hitler #2 comes into power, that's a different story. When did we lose discretion in this country thru collectivist thought, or lack thereof.?

To sum it up, I'm often asked about my political affiliation, and Chris Rock says it best. If you vote before you hear the issue or the stance on the issue, you're a f*ckin' fool. There's some things I'm liberal about, there's some things I'm conservative about. Crime, I'm conservative, prostitution, I'm liberal.

Simply for the record, I can't see how the right can blame liberal media bias anymore with the advent of fox news.

Fortune Depends on the Tone of Your Voice

I just got back from a congrats dinner thrown by some fellow PM*'ers. I got a nice certificate, I call it my 'get out of jail free' card.

During the lunch, I cited a quotation, figured I share it. I don't think leaders have to know a definition of a leader, but for people who 'don't get it,' I think its a good assessment.

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity in his intent. Without passion, boldness, and focus, consistent success is elusive."

Nice, Very Nice ----

I'm Not Crying, Familiar with These Strange Realities

Let's see where to begin, like my wonderful niece, I'm going to try to pop a 'heavy' blog posting out there once a week. What will probably be a long rant, full of misspellings and contradictions.

Lets see, if I can recall what went on this week, I have that can't remember sh*t disease. Biggest thing that strikes my mind was the 'Emo's Free Week' night on the town, and the topic of this rant shall be........

Tenacity vs Normalcy with a touch of what is meant by authenticity.

Tenacity -- I used to be under the perception that tenacity was the way to be 'cool' when it came to a night out on the town. Don't get me wrong, tenacity is cool when it comes to fulfilling endeavours, but when it comes to trading stories of how drunk one got, or 'I got drunker than you', etc, etc, etc.....In this context, eventually you face the music and admit there's always someone cooler than you, and the 'payoff,' well really isn't a payoff.

Well, someone said when you're young, popular, and beautiful and if you rely on this, you've only got one way to go, and obviously that's down. The new edict I'm trying to sell, is that super cool people are ambitious, having a realistic vision that you are able to articulate, and you trying to sell it. That's the cool version of tenacity.

Normalcy -- This young lad and I made friends the other night people watching. It's interesting watching as an 'outsider' when it comes to a rock n roll lifestyle. Three dudes, walking down the street, starched collars (one of these probably cost more than my entire wardrobe), lots of product in the hair, lookin' like men on a mission. Three girls, walking down the street, 'party' attire, giggling amongst themselves, perhaps at some dudes absurd pickup line, but maybe just like Cyndi Lauper says 'girls just wanna have fun.'

I think I've had a pretty good grasp on normalcy, and it lies somewhere between the collar shirts, and my $8 Old Navy special that's a few years old. I've got to work to bring myself to the level of ummmm, maybe a nice, ummmm, Polo? shirt.

Normalcy in terms of moderate drinking is surely is on the horizon, it's started and it feels great. The nail in the coffin will be a new job.

The Shins talk about 'posts that you can heat your faith on,' obviously one being religion, and one day I'll further bash about this bureaucracy between you and a God, but for now lets just say it's a work in progress trying to sift thru the 'tools we devise to make sinking stones fly.'

Another post is the human need for togetherness. I recently read an article about can the human mind actually process 'freewill,' and my opinion is 'HECK no, sure can't.' That being the case, stability becomes more and more important to you. Individual choices (not bad choices, just choices) have temporary landed me a harbor with sis, and yes, it does make me feel like Robbie Hart, Wedding Singer style. Stability comes with 'settling your a$$ down', and more of that is probably on the horizon for me.

Many people face an uphill march, when it comes to the taboos of society. Weather it be the idea of short changin' yourself in a relationship, accepting a savior in the ether, wondering if you really do love big brother, or just plain turning left when society turns right, I'd like to think the uphill march is more fulfilling, and I'll try to make the hike in whatever circumstances I can.

Authenticity, whew, how many dudes in franz ferdinand suits did I see the other night? How many gals did I see in prom dress type getups with hair poofed this way and that. The look is authentic, until you go to a place that has 1,000 people that look the same (don't get me wrong, ATX is way cool, and maybe I'm just envious b/c I can fit my a$$ in a size 28 waist.)

True authenticity is really a state of mind that comes from tolerance of different things, and can be achieved thru engagement, not only in all things cool, and all things digital (i.e. your favorite websites, new, hangouts, and IPOD), but also trying new things, getting out of your comfort zone, and for the extremely hip culture, that means caring about your parents and showing a genuine interest in other people's lives, and other lame stuff like that, many things in which people in general don't take the time to do.

That's authenticity to me, keeping in touch with the cool kids (but not in competition), bustin' your butt to keep up with society, information and technology, and finally tackling the overhead of life gracefully.

Puttin' all your stuff into different silos, knowing which one is which, and when to take the tenacious approach, the normal approach, and keeping in touch with authenticity, the hygiene factors in your life should be more favorable. I'm getting it sorta worked out in my head as I type, hey that's what this is for, right.

For 2007, I'm considering ditchin' the 'what's in my head' approach to the blog, and focusing on a an approach more like this or this. It gets old, it gets boring. I'm going to write in a more engaging, instead of the 'as a matter of fact' approach, and see how that works, and try to encourage feedback, etc.

O well, enough is enough for now, If you've read this far, like Mr. T would say, 'I pity the foool.'

Time Passes, You Got to Reel Against It

Happy Birthday to Abbey celebration! Today marks the Abbey-meisters birthday, and me taking some irrelevant, non flashed pictures, just happy that I found the ol' camera.

First and every picture comes from the top of Maggie Mae's, one of the best places in Austin to 'people watch.'

Not to mention, the Blind Pig's upstairs patio bleeds into this patio, hey they had a live band kickin', which was better than.....scroll to next picture

A U2 coverband downstairs, if that's not 'ok' enough, the downstairs was being broadcasted upstairs, hmmm, I understand sold out SXSW shows, might be a somewhat cool idea, but yea, whatever.

Happy BDay Abbey, a more humorous posting coming outside of this one.

I have no Experience but I'm a Big Fan of Money. I like it, I use it, I have a little. I Keep it in a jar. I'd like to put more in It.

It's that time of life, you know, everyone knows it, it's RESUME BUILDING TIME, and JOB INTERVIEW TIME!

Let's examine why I hate both of these things so badly. First off, the truth, I'm usually not nervous at a job interview, even when there is a board of 5 people throwing questions at you rapidly. I have no doubt about my skills and what's represented on my resume, and I can provide plenty 'meat' to cover the content I provide to a perspective employer.

Resumes -- Yea, you gotta beef that puppy up with a bunch of fluff half the time to 'get in the door.' You're bullshitting bullshitters so to speak, lacing the resume with keywords so 'bots' like Resumix will pick you up in the crowd, and if you are so lucky to get picked up by the bot, you are subject to 'evaluation' from an HR department that half the time doesn't know how to 'read between the lines.'

Interviews -- What is going to distinguish me from some other dillhole in the course of an hour long interview? Is it the way I present myself in that amount of time? I have to buy a suit for this experience, or Deanne Carter said it best for her poor date 'Did I shave my legs for this?' Tell me about yourself? It says here that....? Do you like to work by yourself or as a team? Or you can get let Googles complicated computer algorithm decide if you are the pawn that gets thru the door.

We really all know that who you know is just as important as what you know in a job hunt. When did the 'pure' human element get lost in all this stuff, and can you imagine that poor manager sitting at a desk somewhere going, 'What kinda craplications am I going to get today for this job that I need a 'good body' to fill?'

Well, I don't want to be that guy, I want to portray a realistic view of who I am. When that staffer looks at my resume, I want him to go hmmmm, it's got potential, do the meet and greet, get our job talk on, and in 6 months from that point, that person / organization will go 'Damn, I'm sure glad we hired that guy.'

Here Come Johnny and He'll Tell You the Story, Backbeat the Talkin' Blues

RTFM, I used to have a shirt when I thought those sentiments, as I transition from computer geek to 'business professional,' I think differently about that age old saying.

Rookie advice --
Sh*t About Contracts --

-- Plan your purchase
-- Plan your contract
-- Request Response
-- Select Sellers
-- Administer Contract
-- Close Contract

....and pay close attention to all this sh*t, all the time -- non-verbal communication and all that jazz.

In any case, in ANY contract negotiating, buy a lawyer to read sh*t in advance of anything you sign, intentions swing like pendulums, and contracts are written for different circumstances, and most importantly, what Jerry McGuire taught us the whole 'But'cha do have my word, and it's stronger than oak' simply doesn't hold water.

If you don't understand what you're getting into, all things considered, find someone who does.

Que Sera Sera, psychohistory says things are they way the are, and the way they should be, and in dealing with contracts just stick to ol' boy scout motto, "BE PREPARED."

......and yes, I do practice what I preach

When In Doubt, F*ck the World, Forget all the Things You've Heard

Well, Steve will probably be the first to tell you that my blog has suffered from content this year, as opposed to 2005. There are several reasons for this lack of rock n' roll lifestyle, which I can explain later, but first the highs and the lows.

First high is 'keeping the blog going.' Damn, its hard to keep something like this up and runnin', main reason is you're are scrutinized by all the critics, life overlaps, and it's hard to stay relevant and somewhat captivating (even for myself as I write) in the context of life and all the personalities involved in life.

Travel, well it's been a good year for some trips. I was fortunate enough to take a hop across the pond to Germany to witness back to back epic gigs of The Babyshambles and The Divine Comedy. I was able to head out to LA to see Belle and Sebastian with the LA Philharmonic, and The Shins opening for them. I was able to make a Turkey Day out of Roswell and other Land of Enchantment touristy sites. A nice slingshot trip to the chocolate city for a best bud's bachlor party.

Speaking of that, Manuelabor and Lacinator deserve a paragraph in and of itself, they put it into words better than me, but for lack of sentimentality, it's very special.

I've had the opportunity to get to know my two Round Rock nephews, their cool personalities, and a glimpse of what it's like to have kids, and it's not all that bad, but for me, not anytime soon if ever.

On the flip of that, I've diverted back to the life as a vagabond. The long story short, couch hopping, and finding solace with that wonderful sister of mine. Pink Floyd gets it right when they say 'when I come home cold and tired, it's good to warm my bones beside the fire.'

Why the lack of content on the blog? Well perhaps the biggest reason, other than the travelling, the drama, inner demons, character attacks, (and what seems to be leading down a self-victimization, which I hate, thus I'll stop)...is, the PM* program, and damn I had to study quite a bit for that thing, I actually went 'back to school' for a while, and personally I hate academia, ol' Rhett says it best, 'You don't learn anything, you're just waitin' around.'

Looking back at Dec 05, holy sh*t, I seemed to be a tormented kid, and I recall exactly how I was feeling, what I was thinking, just one of those 'healing' times in life, where I had to think thru things, and yes, I'd be lying if I wouldn't admit that most of the turbulence was my sentiments about a girl. I never shrugged, but have put things into perspective, and thru my own process I've made lemonade out of lemons.

I recall a comment a buddy made on one of these posts earlier, and he said to just keep everything into perspective, and know what you are getting into, and accepting it for what it is, and don't think things will ever drastically change. This gem of wisdom finally stuck with me, and that's something that is going to carry over with me into the new year. This applies to life, love, work, people, war, all these things.

The Diz has been the backbone for 2007, I applaud and respect his rationality and together-ness, and damn, I can't wait to be like that one day soon.

2007 holds a lot of interesting challenges for me, I'll be getting a new job, I'll be trying to save for a trip to Japan, I'll be looking at the whole human element with a tad bit more hesitation, and I hope to go to a billion or so shows, even though the back is giving out, and I'm officially not a 20-something anymore.

Thanks for all the perspective this year from everyone, thanks for the tough love and love love, and I look forward to making another year of not as cynical happiness in 2008!

Time for a Tylenol, time for bed.

Return to Dick Clark

New Years Eve 2006 was the first time in ages that I've stayed 'home,' home in this case meaning Bob and Melanie's crib. For the record books, we watched 'You, Me and Dupree' (kinda) and then I polished off 'The Aviator' for the nightcap. Like old times sake, we even popped it on Dick Clark a few times, like I did when I was a young lad.

Yea, there's the head that's too big for most sports fitted hats, not to mention any 'Party 2007' hats. It's nice waking up New Years Day without the hangover, even though I look like death in that picture.

Bob's egg and bacon delight, and a short geeking session on virtualization was just right to ring in the New Year! :)

Some Day Somebody's Gonna Ask You, A Question That You Should Say Yes To

Today was the wedding where Manuelabor and the Lacinator got married. Two very special people, a very special event, and I was felt honored to partake in the day.

Let's just call Manuelabor 'the iceman,' Mr. He wasn't nervous at all. The Diz and I headed up Friday, and stayed thru Sunday at The LaSalle Hotel, in downtown renovated Bryan.

The wedding was short and sweet, I didn't lose the rigs, I looked like a fat headed penguin in a tuxedo, and I big time enjoyed myself at the reception.

I did a speech, I kinda remember the extent of what I said, but not in its entirety. I just remember waking up around 4 pm from an afternoonish nap going, 'Damn Manuel, what am I gonna say tonight?'

The bride and groom leave, and we head to the Dixie Chicken with some new friends at some point in the night, and I ran into the Beast there (hopefully he'll get that blog rollin' again soon so I can learn about some animals.) At some point in the night I fell and skinned up my knee, but that's just how it goes.

Manuelabor and the Lacinator are probably landing in London here sometime soon, for a stint there, and then off to Ireland. Pretty awesome, all around. I had a Jim Dandy time.

Alas, no pictures yet.....

His Heart was Stronger Than a Heavy Metal Bullet, That's Why I Dedicate This Song

Time for top 10 of the year, random notes of things I learned about music this year, The Hollywood Bowl is the sh*t, SXSW is in a league of its own, and this was the first year I got to check it out in style, and the grassroots sh*t going on in Austin with music is stellar.

As for albums, opinions are like a$$holes, everyones got em', here's my opinions.

Wincing the Night Away - Shins - They are the unsung heroes for 2007, with the album being 'leaked' months earlier. Come January 24th, I'm gonna click my heels get the devils in line, go down to my local record store and buy 2 copies, hell maybe three. Hell maybe if we all did that it would make Freakonomics.

Regina Specktor - Well, yes, It may be a bit cheesy, call me a sucker for that kinda voice, but this is an album of simple truths. It's an album I could have picked up with I was 15 and understood what was going on. Being old as the hills, I can listen to the album and abstract the content into what amounts to just a feel good album about love and the human element.

Racounters - BB and Jack Black at it with some killer guitars, one of those albums crafted by hanging out, chillin', no pressure, no tortured artists here, just a few dudes that like to chill with each other and make music.

Mando Diao - Ode to Ochrasy - Happyland (Ochrasy), that's what this CD is all about. Sad about something, pop it in. Better than strokes, mouses, chiefs and killers, legible lyrics of sentimental nostalgia, focus on the music and not trying so hard on the image thing.

Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit - Yea, blah, blah, blah -- I like that Stuart sings about the abandoned tube station, and the song about him not being able to get his clothes washed correctly.

Tenacious D - How can one who gets The D not put this gem in the list. It's great JB is coming a 'mainstream' actor, yet talks about slashing dragon 'cockles' and things like this. Best part of the album is when the devil takes KG down to the depths of hell, and yes, the government does f*ckin' suck.

Paul McCartney - Chaos and Creation - A throwback from end of 05. Paul did turn 64, and album-wise put out the best in his career. Kudos to Nigel Godrich for giving the album 'that feel.' Too Much Rain, English Tea, holy sh*t, fantastic album, fantastic sound.

The Divine Comedy - Fanfare for Coming Muse - Neil often speaks of truth that is stranger than fiction, more often then not puts taboo subjects to song, and the more money he makes, the more instruments he adds to the band. Caught them in Berlin this year, spine tingling instrumentation and togetherness...yea, this isn't your typical indie rock act. And of course one can't forget to mention the tribute to mom.

Rhett Miller - The Believer - Is talking to your girl like long division? Do you have a rogue rat hand that moves over the borderline? Do you have some fireflies in your life? Nice little 'gave it a shot, gave it up left the cruel world to us' tribute to Elliot, and the question is when are the people on this planet going to demand more from their music, and acknowledge this Esquire Magazine heart throb of the year is the real mutha fuckin' deal.

Number One - M Ward - Post War - One, remember making the mix tapes, and trying to figure out the proper sequence, well, the album is in perfect sequence. Maybe he DID just climb the hill and talked to an old old man on the hill. Magic tricks, post war, requiems, and people who are right in the head, it's all there, and it's all abso-fuckin-lutely-fantastic!

XMAS-06

The site of this year's Bruns Family Xmas celebration, the big suburban home of Debra and Shannon. While the other Houston fools were evacuating from Hurrican Rita, Shannon and Debra understood the logic in it all, and they stayed put.

Gavin was clillin out this year, I got him an 'ugly doll' , I'm hoping I get a report back that he likes it. I think if I was a kid, I'd be all over those things.

Train, this was the first year we did a 'Bruns Train,' my at the helm, being the oldest and wise-ist, and me at the back, pokin' my sis, being the youngest and dumbest. A slew of personalities in that train, I love all these dudes and dudettes.

Shannon, mr suburban eccentric creates a fake tree farm in the front yard. It's bizarre, I love it!

Santa brought everything I wanted this year, mainly just to pass that #^@%!&# test, now, on with life

Click My Heels Get the Devils In Line

On this day, I sneekily hopped into the Prometric Testing Center and passed my PM* Exam. Sis has been waiting for my 'braggin blog post' forever, so here goes.

PMI has rigid standards on 'Codes of Conduct,' and don't really mention blogs, so I don't know what is ethical to post about or not. The test covers a lot of stuff that isn't in the 'study material,' that's why it's hard I suppose, but some of the questions I question the ethical nature of them. The material, straight forward, the test, a critical reading test designed to be sneeky and trip you up, therefore making it difficult.

No bragging really, but it does make me more marketable, I look forward to using this new knowledge, I know it will be valuable to people around me, and also valuable to me.

Yea, I was nervous, yea I was happy when it was over, and yes, as you'll read ahead, it's been a hardcore celebration session since, (as I'm posting this a week later.)

25 Dead Bodies -- Diehard and The Alamo Drafthouse

Talk about a strange drinking game, O God Why, that's what you get when you mix a bucket of Stella, The Sinus Show, and Bruce Willis's movie 'Die Hard' at your local bada$$ Alamo Drafthouse.

To give it a Christmas feel, every time Bruce would knock off one of the terrorists, we'd have to sing '1 dead body, 2 dead bodies, 3 dead bodies' etc, etc to the tune of '12 days of Christmas,' and yes, about 25 people died in the movie, so I was pretty tipsy rollin' outta there.

Great times, I love that place!

I Sailed a Wild, Wild Sea, Climbed Up a Tall, Tall Mountain I Met and Old, Old Man Beneath A Weeping Willow Tree

You know what that old man told me?
He said now if you got some questions, go and lay them at my feet, but my time here is brief, so you'll have to pick just three.
Here's what I asked --
What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart, and how can a man like me remain in the light, and if life is really as short as they say, then why is the night so long?
And guess what that old man answered me in song?
He said, see I once was a young fool like you, afraid to do the things that I knew I had to do, So I played an escapade just like you, I played an escapade like you...
------------------
My sentiments, no, but I do appreciate this song Chinese Translation, and how you can pick it apart the dialogue between the old man and the young man.

M. Ward is my homeboy right now.

When You Don't Look Back I Guess the Feelings Start to Fade Away

Letting Go of God, man this is a smart woman, who I enjoy reading on a daily basis. 'Letting Go,' what a topic, weather its a spiritual being, a special person in your life, or just a bad habit.

Spiritual - Julia explains it much better than me --

Bad Habit - Mike P quit smoking for 36 days, I told him if he would quit till the end of Jan, I wouldn't drink beer for an entire month. Well, raise your glasses to bad habits.

Special People - So many times in the last 10 years of my existence I get the 'bruns when are you gonna get over $hit' line, and my rebuttal more often than not is, 'well that's a good question,' and the inevitable nature of father time makes the majority of your grief look silly in the perspective of things.

Why is it so hard to get over someone? In the past why have I struggled with this instead of 'getting my freak on at the club?'

I used to think it was about the tapestry of color that exists in different individuals. The first girl I 'loved' was a track athlete who enjoyed lots of success at a collegiate level. Number two was (ha ha, I said number two back there), a girl with the voice of an angel, who was attentive and listened, and we just sang tunes and had a great go of it. #3 possessed a rich texture and a 64bit color pallet, which made for a lot of great dialogue and overall fun. All these people made me feel special in a different way, and 'the science' behind it all says the 'butterflies in the stomach' feeling last for approximately 18 months, then you dig in for the long haul, living, loving, learning and leading, something I've never experienced, so in this case I may be one of the most naive 30 year old boys out there. I've never made it past the 18 month 'honeymoon phase' of a relationship, so I don't know what life after butterflies is like.

In the past I've used benchmarks, well she was good at this, and this was fun with her, and I've thought the key happiness in love is to push the envelope, how bout a 128 bit girl. I realize this is what my mind says, but not what my heart feels. My heart feels like you just stumble into this sorta stuff, and a key point to help overcome my 'neurosis' is to differentiate activities in the 'initiating' phase of something potentially significant. I'm not going to take a girl to 'Huts Hamburgers' if it was the place had significance in the past, etc, etc, etc.

To quote a cheesy lyric from the rembrandts, 'too many memories in this ol' town.' I used to think this was hard, you know, oooo, this ice cream place reminds me of girl A, and this live music venue reminds me of girl B, and this, hell, coconut cream pie reminds me of girl C, and so on and so forth. After considering this idea currently, on a sleepless night, I realize this is FAR from the case, and it is kinda sad how individuals like myself associate inanimate objects with people.

This idea of a 'stupid memory' as Sondre Lerche puts it, is something I've somewhat been able to overcome. I realize there are tons of 'dynamic' people, and even the 'non-dynamic' ones are dynamic, ever evolving, and so is society. So what if 'our song' was this, there were 1,500,000 million other realeased this year, just find the new feelin'. I was sittin' here tonight and 'The Who' came on the radio, and I thought damn, what kind of happenstance, circumstance, crapenstance, or I'm too younginstance do I associate them with, and the answer was refreshingly 'NO ONE.' Which made me remember a girl I met in a bar, ooo, about 5 years ago. One of the top 5 questions is always 'what's your favorite band?,' and her answer, 'The Who.'

Where does all this rambling lead? Well, the future does look bright if you focus on the future and forget the mishaps of the past. To this day, perhaps in many ways I've been scared of the future, scared of actually being happy, and heaven forbid scared of anyone 'understanding' me. I've come to find out, it's not really 'understanding' your partners 'I've been thru shit-s, I've had this happen, I see the world like this, I want to do this in my life, etc', but rather 'understanding' of the human element of 'There's power in two, You're a person I respect, You're a person I love, You're a person who I enjoy talking to, going out with, bragging about, and most importantly someone I'm certain I want to grow old with.

The first type of 'being understood' and 'understanding' is the vicious cycle of crapola I've been stuck in for the last however long, and I look for bright things in the future and areas to use my new level of true understanding of others and understanding of myself.

Thanks Manuelabor and Lacinator for helping me understand that, and my sister gives y'all kudos. And thanks sis for being there for me, I know it's hard for you to sit back and watch the emotional train wrecks while I figure it all out.

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blätter!

If you can't tie a not, tie a lot....That's what the Christmas Tree dude said to us as we tied the tree to the top of the minivan. He said they grow 4,000 feet up in the mountains of North Carolina. How's that for some salesmanship.

I have no idea why, but going to pick up the tree this year made me recollect movies, concert dvds, and actually most prevalent 'chick flicks' I've sat down and watched this year. Why just this past Thursday I watched one called 'A Lot Like Love' -- Long story short, first encounter they become members of the Mile High Club, go thru a series of events, and the highlight is when the dude sings Bon Jovi to the chick in the apartment courtyard. A great movie, about irony in relationships, much much much times ten less painful than Serendipity. I doubt love to ever to be this ironic, but it's good for Hollywood and entertaining for me.

Next I sat down and watched a few with sis this year, biggest one that hangs on the mind, The Notebook (on the link you can buy the 'platinum dvd,' just available for the holiday (and I'm NOT giving hints)) hahaha. This movie has got a good ring to it, and it seems like many people I meet and chat about chick flicks with say 'Hey I can relate,' and that's what a good chick flick is all about. Another one of those too ironic love affairs that has a double dose of happy ending.

My favorite, which I can hope to drag sis down and watch it during the joyous holiday yuletide is 'Love Actually,' probably my favorite chick flick of all time. It shows how things are people and situations are tied up, and no matter how mundane love may seem to be, it exists all around.

The setting is in London, and this movie is FULL of love heroes, and all around happy ending, from the Brit 20 something that goes to Wisconsin and winds up having a foursome with three hot girls, to the dad who inspires his 8 year old son to go Hollywood on the chick he likes, to the prime minister getting together with his 'big thighs' assistant (who he wrestles out of the hands of Billy Bob Thorton, aka. President of the USA). And one can't forget the writer and the portuguese girl, but, the clincher is this ultimate gut wrenching scene.

Speaking of Love existing all around, just ask this 'washed up has been' in the industry, as he takes on a boy band for the 'Christmas hit of the year.' The tune is one we know with a twinge of variation in the lyrics 'So if you really love Christmas, come on and let it snow!' I especially like the barrage of cuss words he uses after he gets the lyrics wrong the second time around.

That's all for this posting, whenever I'm feeling down, I just pop that one in. Hollywood keep the over 100 million dollar budget thrillers, movies like Van Wilder, and chick flick with caked on irony, I'll keep paying my 10 bucks for the theatre, and 5 bucks for the rental.

I Search for Comfort and I Find it Where I've Found it Many Times Before, Times Before Can Be Forgotten

This is the eating joint in my hometown, it looks like a Masonic or Elks Lodge. Dead Animals on the wall, crazy booths that don't really seem to belong, and that time of the year, the dreaded Christmas lights.

Eyes Wide Shut ruined me for Christmas lights, every time I see colored lights, it puts me in a disturbed Kubrick mindset. Not to mention the animals all checkin' you out, perhaps say 'Hey there, that's my relative you are eating,' you don't want me to come off this wall and stick this antler up your a$$, do you?

Seems to me as the Christmas season is rushed this year, 'our' Round Rock house is the only Griswald lookin' house on the street (kudos Jeannie and Rob), and I haven't had the motivation to dust off and plug in the ol fiber optic tree.
-------
I've found it hard lately to blog about the nuance-s of life, as I'm trying to further define myself as a human being, what that means, how to be a good human being, and ultimately finding my place in it all.

After a stimulating talk about religion at the Shimek residence (after I changed my drawers from the 8 foot python scaring the bejesus out of me), driving home, listening to cd 42 of the 56 cd set of Atlas Shrugged, the quote came up and I had to rush to write it down, it was profound. It goes -- 'learn the extent of your own power, and understand the calamity around you.'

I thought, can it be that easy? That hard yet that easy? Easy because, yes, it is all up to you to make yourself a better person, and if everyone does their part and lives up to their potential, the world is a better place. Where did it get confusing, if you decide to make it confusing.

Hard because, let's see, kinda hard to articulate. It's hard because of human expectation. Sitting there watching Manuelabor and The Diz down a hurricane a week ago while I was sipping on some piss water, I talk about what challenges me in life, and the people that challenge me, their thoughts, their ideas, the typical 'what makes you tick' type stuff, and surely getting on my high horse.

Manuelabor's rebuttal (as the finger points at me for accent) is.......Robert, anyone, especially any girl WILL challenge you (and I do paraphrase). You know why? Because half the time you don't even know how to wear clean pants in the morning, you don't know how to change your sheets, you don't know to enjoy the moment for the sake of the moment, and you don't give many people a chance because they don't necessarily follow your twisted, bitter, cynical idealist BS, and as I play the role of the critic in many aspects of life, I wind up alienating myself and any chances for unity.

I did a rant back or two or ten back there on love, and for historical purposes I have to show where I stand and how I feel. Sure we all need the social aspects of 'at the end of the day when the dust settles' you have someone to talk to scenario, and in identifying this in my life, I have to take at least one other factor into play heading into the great beyond, as it pertains to instinctive behavioral traits of human beings (man I sound like a wanna-be scientific retard). I can't live by the 15 minute 'sniff test,' alone -- that's too small of a window to know if someone is right for you or not.

Which begs the question for me of relationships, or at least for me in the future. If it doesn't hit me like a ton of bricks, will I have the intelligence to awknowledge a win-win, and embrace it open minded-ly and open hearted-ly?
------------
The hump of 'test-new job-new place to live' is coming to a head very soon. I didn't pass this test the first time, after taking a class that cost $2,500 bucks. If I pass it using this crusty website, can I blame academia for not captivating me and motivating me? If I can, what does that say for our education system. I can say a lot of things about why I didn't pass the first time (lazy, heart not in it, not captivated, didn't study enough, etc,) but how as educators do we motivate and inspire people in the digital era and how can they improve their part?.....slap a math equation on Britney's breasts?

Enough ranting -- Bed Time :) --

Here I Go Again on My Own, Goin' Down the Only Road I've Ever Known

I always knew I was a little girly girl, or princess, or insert other panzified word here, but it takes the cake when 'the gang' set me up and bring an 8 foot long python into the picture.

Just listen to the screams, how pathetic.

Holla New Orleans

At the stroke of 10pm Friday night, we decided to head over to New Orleans. A lot of bachelor parties have the BBQ pit, and getting the groom wasted beyond belief to where he's pretty much injured for the next few days. Well, we just wanted to take a road trip.

We (Mike D, Manuelabor and I) gas up the VDub and head to NoLo, with a stay over in Htown, arriving at destination at 5ish. Manuel and Mike D both say that there are homeless people running around better dressed than I. In fact, they were embarrassed to even walk into Denny's with me? What the hell is that all about guys?

First stop was.............NOT!

First stop was Tropical Isle, where the hand grenades are touted as the 'strongest drink in New Orleans,' and this beastly amazon woman guards them. Yea, ....we're probably drinking the cough syrup she's guarding.

A chilly Saturday night, this is Bourbon Street. Any given summer night its packed, and during Mardi Gras you can't even see the street.

The only picture of the night of us together, don't you just HATE going up to people and goin' ...ummm, could you take our picture?? Boy just look at Mr I could stand to lose some weight.

They broadcast it everywhere, but there is none to be seen.

A nice shot of Manuelabor and Mike D, some crazy artificial light going on there.

The trip was great, didn't see any fridges in trees, the French quarter is beautiful (except for the drunks and stench and all -- reminded us of the times walking about in Barcelona in search of our favorite tapas bar.)

Ride home = sinister (are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet, FINALLY!) -- Not to mention a bad case of IBS on the trip home.

I'm sick of the Millennium, Bored by the Pain I Waited for the Gospel, gospel never Came Prophets and Pimps, Working for the Man

Let's see, gotta put my thinking hat on a bit for this one. Mr Garza's gig at the Continental Club, inspiring to say the least. He only played a few of what he called 'Christmas Songs' (i.e. old favorite 'hits'), instead he focused in improvisation and experimentation to the sparse crowd.

The guy has to have more friends than you can shake a stick at, he changes band members like I change underwear (well maybe a bit more than that), and he always seems like he's having a great time.

One of those people, if I was from the Mexican culture, he'd make me proud, and he would represent. People watching revealed shirts like, 'Kiss Me, I'm a Mexican' and proud proclamations of 'Beaner' and things like that.

What you see at gigs like this, is not a 'melting pot', but a 'cultural mosaic' to site a tired analogy of the interaction among cultures.

I'm partial to this guy, for at one time he was 'get over my ex' music. Thanks Dahveed, you rock, wish I could find the words better, but back to work.

How Was I Supposed to Know

The poster outside my cube that the auditor deemed 'offensive,' and I had to take down.

Yo Yo, Holla From Carlsbad Caverns

Goin' to this place as a kid I was amazed, still it is pretty fascinating. Not many pictures came out, but Flickr has tons of them taken of caves and stuff like that.

Ronnie, Jr, and Mom, throwing up some random signs in front of the start of the 'big room' tour. Josh, Ashton and I descended into the caves the long way, following a trail of crazy switchbacks, where the 'putting on the brakes' muscles in my legs are still kinda hurtin.

And to the left here, we have the 'nipple stone,' yes, it was cold down there, maybe that explains it.

Man I know these posts are weak, I could expound ten times more, but I need to study and sleep, so hence, stay tuned for more commentary on life to come.

The Poets and The Painters They Won't Leave Him Alone

White Sands Missle Range, yes it does look like you are on the moon. We learned that many episodes of 'Lost in Space' were filmed out here in this environment.

Josh and I throwin' up the deuces on top of one of the dunes.

Here's one of the dunes, once we were on top, Josh and I decided to almost lose our Thanksgiving dinner by rolling down the dune. It was worth it, despite the dizziness and near vomiting.

Me and Mummy, in front of what appears to be water on the moon. Hahaha

Tank, I Need Instructions on How to Fly This Helicopter

A healthy hop, skip and jump from Roswell, across an Indian reservation yielded Alamogordo, site of Trinity, the first a-bomb test.

I wanted to eat Thanksgiving on an Indian Reservation, even though there's really no way to honor and dignify the way we handled the 'original homeland security.' The Alamogordo Golden Corral was just splendid for the occasion.

On top of a big mountain, about 6,000 feet in elevation is a beautiful site. We got up to as high as 8,750 elevation, in Cloudcroft. Josh and Ashton, messin' up the good view! hahahaha

The dreaded family shot.

Jr hopped on the Sonic Winds seat, in which some dude went over 620 miles per hour, man sounds like a bada$$ ride!

Tur-Alien

Roswell, a city with aliens, or weather balloons or whatever was the place we intended to eat Thanksgiving dinner, however, on arriving in the town, low and behold most things were closed, including the alien museums and such. Rest assured, one day I will make it out the the UFO Festival.

My mummy found this creature, as she attempted to do the Vulcan live long and prosper in front of the beast.

Leave it to Coke to hope on the branded city bandwagon too, hell it made me want to buy a drink from the machine.

The Pleiadians even made a storefront appearance.

Also, there was a stash of decent priced guitars that obviously appealed to tourists in all locations. I would have liked to strum on the Toby Keith angry American lookin' guitar, but alas, the store wasn't open.

No food in Roswell, just a stroll down the street, but I did pick up some literature and some great stickers, that will be slapped on back of my already stickerified to the max geetar.

New Mexico or Bust

Putting it all into perspective days later, we 'set sail' from Shiner this morning, the goal was to get Ashton and Josh out of Texas, and do something different this year for Thanksgiving. So we gased up the van, and Jr, Ronnie, Mom, Josh, Ashton and I headed west.

You can't put this into perspective, and the picture doesn't do it justice. I never thought I was a 'sunset man,' but it's inspiring to set back and watch the sunset on the wide open plains.

Well here's the gangstas at the border, we reached it at about 6pm that evening, just enough daylight to snap the picture. The family was appalled that I took a piss behind the bushes near the border sign.

With the overhead of getting out of Texas out of the way, we knew lots of goodies in the Land of Enchantment were to come.

Truly. Truly We Have Become. Hated And Feared For Something We Don't Want

What can I say about the boys from My Morning Jacket, Stubbs BBQ, other than fantastic. Mike D at least remember the show this time, as himself, myself and my brother in law Shannon painted the town. We had a set of 'goals' to be reached for the evening, and all of them were met, so as one would say, 'another successful evening.'

My Morning Jacket is cool without trying to be cool, one of those bands, they do some very significant sh*t for the music scene, and if our generation is going to be remembered for poetry, it will be in the form of music, and this is some poetic stuff for sure.

Here's two of my favorite songs of theirs, youtubed, or gootubed, or whatever. My criteria was they play these two songs.

Golden, with the Golden light behind --

Mageetah or 'my geetar' as I proudly sing it in the automobile. Watch how Jim James accidently bumps his head in the mic.

When You're Riding the Rails with Those Wide Open Eyes, There's One Old South Paw You Will Always Fight

What a day for family bonding, a trip to San Gabriel Park for a stroll, the light saber battles, and random backyard antics, that yet again throws my back into a tailspin.

Right by the water, Grant, Meagan and Kman throw up their GQ looks.

Later the geese (I think that's what those things are) came and we feed them tons of random items. I always thought human candy, cake and cookies were bad for animals, but the seemed to not mind. Maybe even American geese are fatter than the rest of the world!!

Gavin was just thrilled with that pipe thing you could yell in, and the sound comes out the other end across from the playground. We had loads of fun making farting sounds in the pipe.

Finally Grant and Meagan singing some Joel Plaskett Emergency jams, I knew they were fans, but didn't know they knew the songs by heart. One word, awesome!

Sitting here Monday morning, my back still hurts from the light saber battle, Thanksgiving time family bonding is the devil in terms of physical fitness.

Things that you Believe, But You Can't Prove

I recently read somewhere on TED and interesting article on things you believe to be true, but you can't prove, and I started thinking about this topic, and about what I think, but alas, what I can't prove, here's the short list

1. Love conquers all, means many things to many people, but in most cases becomes a complicated business arrangement and a pretty taboo subject to bring up in daily conversation.
2. Yin and Yang --- You get Jesus and a religious and ignorant nut job in the white house, you get equally religious and ignorant nut jobs, or nut jobs in general springing up all over the place.
3. Something Adam Sandler would think up, If those people in the middle east wouldn't be so hot and hungry, they wouldn't be as feisty.
4. The original of wealth, loosely speaking has come from exploitation, not hard work.
5. Building a wall on a border does not keep people ....ooo....I mean 'illegal aliens' out of one's country.

Things that can be proven

1. You can be moral without God.
2. Promoting Censorship in Iraq is not representative of our country.

OOOO, I'll quit now ---

Didn't Know I Looked So Dorky

Ok friends laugh all you want....

Strike up the Music the Band Has Begun, The Pennsylvania Polka

Wurstfest 2006, one of y'all promoters read this -- the beer price is outrageous, why do you make people pay an ungodly amount of money (19 dollars) for piss like bud light, and 25 dollars for something like Spaten. Y'all make me sick, and if you keep doing it, I'm not coming and I'm going to tell all my friends what a ripoff y'all are. Isn't 6 million dollars for your community enough, I think it was something like that the last one brought in.

With that aside, this dude is s TRIP, the second song, the Pennsylvania Polka sent me back to Groundhog Day, thinking, what if i relived this day everyday. The band playing 'Who the Hell is Alice', and the super-extendo Sweet Home Bama Alabama, and not only that, playing it TWICE. I was standing next to a gal who had 'intimate relations' with one of the band members...icky!

Ran into oodles of people I know, got a steak on a stick, drank 28 bucks worth of beer, which was like a drop or two, and listened to some great polkas, and ummm, yes, I think it's a bit strange out there, and I can't put a finger on why.

Don't know what's the deal these days, but it seems as every time I'm out and about these days, some 'hot' 21 year old starts chatting me up out of the blue. Within' the usual 10 minutes, my sparklingly cynical personality 'scares' them away. I suppose one of these days I'll jump in there and go thru the motions.

Great fun, but a grimace at the prices, I ain't goin' back next year with prices like that.

Brown as a Berry From Riding the Prairie, and He Sings with An Old Western Draw

The 50k Wurstride bike ride today, something I didn't really 'train' for, turned out to be not really difficult, sorta.

Waking up in the morning, cold as windy as the dickens, the first mile out of the starting block, I'm all happy and giddy, first 3 miles are like, ahhh, this isn't gonna be bad at all. Around mile 5, a huge f*ckin' hill, by the time I've reached the summit, I'm like damn, this is gonna be a LOOOONG ride.

To start, Garth, Stephanie, Bob and I. Garth has the mobile Ipod and speakers, a wonderful setup, as they go thru the rural route jammin.

Me and Bob tore up the 'race,' therefore we didn't see Garth and Step till the end of the race, where free beer and sausage were being served. Check out my helmet, the shadow I cast on the road made me look like some kinda french wussy.

Brown as a berry you ask, yes, this was my biking attire, dickies shorts, while most other had plenty ass padding, so as I'm typing this up the next day, the only thing that is sore is my bottom.

Verdict, against the wind sucks, big ass rural hills suck, riding a mountain bike long distances sucks, but overall the trip is pretty easy.

Granted, I only passed two people along the way, and it seems like everyone else was passing me by, but o well, I can do the course, then drink 10 spatens, perhaps the best beer on the planet.

For the BASH, there will have to be a bike upgrade, one of us responsible for the tunes, one for the pony keg, and of course we will have to identify a lifeline, therefore making the BASH one big mobile tailgate party --- any takers?

Everyone's A Winner if the Stadium is Right

Nostalgia sets in at the Hotto Hippos Jr High football game. Big Kev's oldest kid plays on the team and the doc and I went out the check out the action.

No rough hits, good ol titty rubbin' on the class b team. Class A team hit pretty hard and had a talented little QB. It made me think of all the little personalities and that time in my life, kinda interesting.

The discipline was crazy in Shiner for us football players, but nowadays, the kids sit with their girlfriends and have their cell phones out, chattin' in the bleachers.

The doc said they used to sell weed to kids under the bleachers, wow, I didn't really know what that was all about growing up in Shiner, but you know, things may have changed. Damn, the whole kid thing has gotta be hard.

Also, a momentous occasion tonight, as I went knee deep in Barton Springs, first swim lesson with Ashley.

Jak Se Mas

As the winds of change are sweeping across the country this election night, Mike D, Mike P, and myself go see Borat.

First I must say I've been with this dude since the early stages of Ali G, you either love it or hate it, and I must say, I love it.

From talking to feminists, to saying we support your war of terror, to cleaning out bear poop from the back of his icecream truck, the movie is full of laughs.

Good thing the movie IS a success, so he does not have to be execute!

Stop the Bus, I Wanna Be Lonely, When Seconds Pass Slowly and Years Go Flying By

For the hip people, Ben Folds will say, 'make me feel small if it makes you feel big, but there's always someone cooler than you.'

I saw Ben in 1995, when he was an 'up and comer', 11 years later, he's playing a sold out show at Stubbs BBQ supporting the release of his 'B-sides EP's', now that's some tenure, and the beauty of it, there's 'oldies' like me out there, yet it's on the cusp of a new generation of fans.

He's the first person who's ever awknowleged the 'beautiful black man' who's 'poster' is on the back of the Stubbs stage.

I blogged about how much I love the dude HERE (Tulsa) -- HERE (DFW) and HERE (AUSTIN) -- if you care to read what the dude means to me.

Closing in on the Pain and the Torture

Cynical times, yes indeed, but for a minute here I'd like to transition this cynicism into hope. This means not dwelling on politics, religion, hormones, work, personalities and all other things that potentially drag me down on a day to day basis.

While still being engaged with this evils, there's good people fighting the good fight everyday, and there's spirits of inspiration in many things, they just have to be acknowledged and expounded on.

1 -- Seein' the little dudes I live with happy as can be, feelin' my sister and brother and law are doing good as parents

2 -- Listening to a Billy Bragg or Sondre Lerche cheesy ironic love song and understanding you're not alone in your quest for the most idealistic love affair

3 -- Knowing that while you don't know what you want to be when you grow up, you are swimming ahead of the current, and positioning yourself for that 'big break' or a nice stroke of luck -- how bout a nice horseshoe of roses that says 'good luck robert bruns'

4 -- Feeling appreciated as a friend, and cultivating personal relationships with people, showing mutual care and consideration for each other

5 -- Having a family that is epic

6 -- Having the attitude 'it's not what i can't do, it's what do i want to do', and being able to do anything I want, in any sphere of life

7 -- Not having to compromise an effin' thing

8 -- Being close to my heritage, being proud of it, being in touch with it.

9 -- Feeling that there is justice in this world, and it comes in many shapes and forms and that people get out of life what they put into it, and that I'm a contributor not only to my person betterment, but the betterment of society.

10 -- Feeling that there isn't anything in the world to figure out, that there aren't any contradictions, but rather one of your two contradicting thoughts are out of line, not ever playing the role of the victim, instead playing the role of someone who's got it under control.

Life is a Highway, I Wanna Ride it All Night Long

White trash rich day!

On the way home I hope on the new toll road that's pointed out towards the burbs, straight to my final destination, and as the toll is free for two months, I think....Life is Good.

Then I think, OK, roughly 700 bucks of my check every month goes to programs like this, and I think of the beurocratic inefficiency that goes into making a road like this, and I'm thinking Bruns Construction could do it in 1/3 of the cost, 1/3 of the time.

It is nice riding on an un-tainted highway, but rest assured, when that toll comes along, I'm gonna be skummin' it in traffic.