As I have said, I do appreciate living in Austin. If I had to live anywhere in Texas, Austin would be and IS my choice. The sprawling micro-plex provides me a great deal of charming hippy weirdness such as Gardens of the Ancients. Carol and I went there on Saturday in search of herb seedlings for our vertical kitchen garden. I wanted mints, thyme, ( Read more... )

I left Texas in 1991. I moved to San Mateo, California two years after the Loma Prieta earthquake and about 3 weeks before the Berkeley/Oakland Hills firestorm, which I watched from my hilltop apartment in Belmont--across the bay ( Read more... )

I haven't written in a bit. It's been overly busy. By the time the end-of-quarter sprint had ended at work, I was driving up to Dallas, late on a Thursday evening, for an early Friday morning date at the hospital for my Mother's knee replacement surgery. Kudos to Fredo who sent me hilariously snarky text messages, while I was sitting 2 feet away ( Read more... )

All marketing ( Read more... )

Things I'm used to hearing from my Mother:

"I know you don't like me."
"I know you don't care about me."
"I know you hate me."
"I know you don't care about what I think."Only one of those four sayings is incorrect. I do NOT hate her. Hate is a wasted emotion, in my opinion. I've wasted my emotions and my energy--both mental and physical--on hatred ( Read more... )

So, yesterday was my Mother's appointment with her knee doctor. Neither Kriss nor I had heard a word, so before lunch today, Kriss sent a group text message to ask how it went. Surgery is set for March 29th. Last Friday of the month, that's easy to do. I say 'great! I'll be there!'

This is what I get in return:


( Read more... )

Or, in my case, BOTH ( Read more... )

In the face of all odds I choose happiness. This is not the easiest task. People think that 'Pollyanna' types are unrealistic simpletons who don't have a clue, much less a grasp of the enormity of 'real life'. I'm not even suggesting I'm as happy or as cheerful as Pollyanna. It is just that I have learned the hard way, over the years, what the ( Read more... )

So, on our way into downtown for the concert last night we drove by "Love Goat." Who knew that goat love was a thing, much less a place. A place which serves alcohol and has a GINORMOUS photo of two goats...doing what goats do, naturally, and with love. Don't believe me? Look at the photo, lower left corner of the gallery on their main page ( Read more... )

Honk, Hack, Hork, Snort, Wheeze, Cough ( Read more... )