It Gets Better

I'm wearing purple today, even thought I probably won't even leave the house. It's the least I can do to express my frustration.

Targeted Advertising

What? Because I wanted to hear some New Order, I'm suddenly a drug addict needing help?

8-Track

Question of the Day:

What was your favorite album on 8-track tape?

Mine was Led Zeppelin III.

That's about all I remember having on 8-track.

Friday Pussy Blog: Captionless Pussy Edition

I am so spent from the workweek that I can't even caption these. But that worked in my favor in terms of thinking of a clever post title...

Happy Friday!

Why We're Screwed

Paul Krugman of the New York Times, writing about the "Mortgage Morass," says Happy Friday, ya'll.

True to form, the Obama administration’s response has been to oppose any action that might upset the banks, like a temporary moratorium on foreclosures while some of the issues are resolved. Instead, it is asking the banks, very nicely, to behave better and clean up their act. I mean, that’s worked so well in the past, right?

The response from the right is, however, even worse. Republicans in Congress are lying low, but conservative commentators like those at The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page have come out dismissing the lack of proper documents as a triviality. In effect, they’re saying that if a bank says it owns your house, we should just take its word. To me, this evokes the days when noblemen felt free to take whatever they wanted, knowing that peasants had no standing in the courts. But then, I suspect that some people regard those as the good old days.

Capitalism is hard at work.

Canada Seems Curious

Mississippi...not so much.

But what's up with Oregon??

Data research from OK Trends. Link to site embedded in the graphic.



Beware of soymilk! :-)

Mid-Week Ketchup

First of all, let's do a Songs From My Head segment since I've had this little ditty stuck in it most of the afternoon.

Whoa! Whole lotta sexy hot sweaty on that stage. No wonder it was stuck in my head for some odd reason!

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Unrelated blog note: I'm taking down my swamp tree blog header for some maintenance. (Link provided for the benefit of the Guest who can't seem to remember from one day to the next -- or one year to the next -- what the previous one looked like!) Replacing it with the first ever collaborative header effort on this blog! A few days ago a friend of mine on Facebook offered to create one. That afternoon, Cody (aka =P) sent me his entry which was like three fabric swatches of different color and texture pieced together. Very calming and serene. Then I put the konagod finishing touches on it!

So much for the minimalist approach!

I chose to flash it up using two points of light to symbolize the two stunningly brilliant minds involved with it! :-)

(Hey, you know there's nothing low-key about me.)

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Can't believe it's Wednesday evening already. txrad has been in high gear trying to get the fall garden ready. Seeds have been planted.

Exciting, huh? (Kinda looks like two grave sites!) Photo provided mainly for the benefit of Sherry P. who asked for one on txrad's Facebook page....as if there would be something to see! Give it 2 or 3 months and you will see Swiss chard and collard greens! YEAAAHHH!

Sunflowers Announcing Autumn

At least, the few that remain.

Earlier this week, txrad purged the yard of most sunflowers. The entire backyard was full of them and by now they would all be in bloom. However, it was a necessary procedure as they are horrendous to clear out after they die off leaving hard woody stalks behind.

A few weeks ago I took one of those Family Feudish quizzes on Facebook. One of the questions was, "Name a sport that is played in summer," and I incorrectly answered football.

Chalk that one up to my geographic upbringing and current locale. Well, actually it is partially true as I pointed out in Facebook comments. Summer doesn't officially end until mid-September and football season starts beforehand. So I was essentially correct.

But here in Texas it can feel like summer well into fall. It is not until the wild sunflowers bloom in our yard that I start to realize summer is ending and a change in seasons is forthcoming.

Soon we'll have our first cold front of the season blast through here which will bring daytime temperatures down into the 40s. November will roll around, mid-term elections will provide a brief distraction from the upcoming frenzy of holiday activity, and before you know it, we'll be making those damned New Year's resolutions again.

Three months from today we'll be well into January, 2011. But for now, I can focus on the stillness of time from the sunflowers, enjoying their swaying in the gentle afternoon October breeze.

The few that remain.

New Blog Header / New Coulter

So it's kind of interesting that I would choose to redesign my blog header during a time when I'm so listless and uninspired I can't even find anything to rant about.

If nothing else, I guess I can just express myself by doing a new blog header ever few days.

FYI, for those obsessed with meaningless trivia, this is the first blog header in the history of this blog which wasn't derived in some way from the original coffee bean header I designed back in May of 2006 from a photo of my own beans.

I guess that means I'm making progress.

Friday Pussy Blog: Orange Bulk Containment Edition

Sweet Pea has been spending a bit of time on the door mat lately. Tiger does as well, and it's kind of funny when they are both on it because there's hardly any room on it.

Last night we let Sweet Pea in the house for a few minutes so he could visit with his sister, Sissy, and the Tot. After we let him back out, the Tot was just in a crazy state, sitting in the kitchen just talking about something. We suspect he wondered where Sweet Pea had gone, and wanted us to know he's perfectly capable of supervising another cat in the house. I have no doubt.

The Tot is still spending time each day in the amazon box. I guess I can never toss it out. I need to get him a decorative basket at least.

The box cannot contain all of his orangey bulk.

At least he can spread out on the floor!



HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Fall Gardening

Hard to believe it's time to start our fall gardening. It's a dual effort -- txrad will maintain the garden and I'll participate in the harvest and the eating.

Swiss chard and collards are my favorites.

My apologies to all the folks up north who cannot participate in this ritual. Sorry to be a tease!

Thoughts On God And Heaven

If there is a God, I think He or She should be more like Me in terms of how I deal with my outside cats.

I'd like to hear "come on in the big house. Take a look around. See if it's right for You, and if You want to go back outside to think it over, be My guest."

Somehow it just doesn't seem right that We should have to buy into this sight unseen.

Word of mouth often goes awry.

Thursday Morning Buzz

I got a buzz just from watching a few of these cannabis videos.

But check out #9 from Gropech. Wow, talk about clinical and sterile. As with chickens, I could see a big "free-range" movement growing in response to this. Give those plants some fresh air!

Arkansas Trip: 2010

I left Austin Saturday morning on 9/25 for my annual trip to Arkansas. Interstate 30 took me from Dallas to Little Rock where I spent the night with a friend before journeying on to McGehee on Sunday morning.

Even though Little Rock isn't exactly what you'd call being on the direct route, I have found this is easier for me in terms of the drive, and I can arrive at my mom's house feeling a bit more refreshed and not so road-weary.

McGehee is a farm community, as evidenced by this grain facility, and also a wet community, as evidenced by the adjacent liquor facility.

It's also kind of swampy in those parts. This picture of me I took at the Wiley A. McGehee Memorial Park in town, or as I like to call it, the "Swamp Park." [click to embiggen.]

My brother and I drove out to the farm. This is the foundation of our farm house where we grew up. Too bad the house burned down a few years ago after being sold back in the 1980s. I have lots of wonderful memories growing up there.

The farmland begins at the edge of the 5-acre lot where the house was.

This year the entire farm was devoted to the growing of soybeans. This was probably the first year ever in which cotton wasn't grown. My mother was somewhat irked by that fact.

At the back of the farm is an area we called the break. It makes the "Swamp Park" in town pale in comparison. The water has always been coated in a green moss which creates the illusion that you could walk on it. I would advise against that.

I used to go back there as a kid and could find arrowheads and other bits of Indian pottery in the fields after they had been plowed.

It was also very dry and dusty. I have never seen dirt so fine and powdery. It was almost like driving through 6 or 8 inches of snow.

One of the neighboring farms did have some cotton and it was one of the few fields in which the harvest wasn't completed for the year.

Tuesday morning I drove back to Little Rock to have some Indian food. Ironically, this Indian restaurant was located in a building which had housed a Tuesday Morning store.

Just up the street there in this photo is another small Indian restaurant called Amruth. That had been my destination for lunch but unfortunately they were closed on Tuesdays! I was quite surprised to see this huge sign for Taj Mahal in the area as Little Rock had been lacking a variety of Indian restaurants until now.

The food was splendid and the mint chutney was probably the finest I have ever tasted. I will definitely be returning to this one.

Wednesday morning I was on the road ahead, being pulled deep into the heart of central Texas by noon on I-35, bound for kona ranch.

Not long after I took this shot from a Schlotzsky's parking lot in Belton, Texas, I passed a billboard of President Obama with "Socialist" printed on it.

Vacation over. Back to reality.

Friday Dog Blogging

During my trip to Arkansas I got to hang out with some of my canine buddies.

I spent Saturday night with my friend Elizabeth who was dog-sitting Baxter. He is a joy to behold!

When I got to McGehee, my brother was already there with TJ.

TJ wasn't quite sure what to make of me when I showed up. I could have been friend or foe.

It wasn't long before he loosened up.

Then we were buds.

Friday Pussy Blog - Back Home Edition

I'm back!

The Tot seems to have missed me as he's been a wild boy since I got home.

Deaf Tiger has taken to sleeping in the wild sunflower patch all day.

Nothing new with Sissy. Sleeping on the bed all day.

Sweet Pea preparing for his nap this morning. One last glance at his daddy.

Happy Friday, as meaningless as that is to me since I've been on vacation all week.

Friday Pussy Blog: Saying Goodbye Edition

This has been one crazy week. I had Monday off, then a physical exam at the doctor's office on Tuesday morning before going to work. That led to another doctor's appointment this morning for a colonoscopy consultation. I've been insanely busy trying to get caught up on everything before leaving tomorrow for a quick trip to Arkansas to visit with my mother for her 87th birthday which is today.

Three weeks from today my colonoscopy will be a day behind me and I'm looking forward to what I hope is the last of the medical inspections and procedures for 2010! I may try and squeeze a dentist in before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, I have dragged out the bags for packing and I do believe the Tot is going to miss me. And likewise. But txrad is staying behind on cat duty!

Happy Friday everyone! See you mid-week when I return, unless I can squeeze in a post while on the road via a wi-fi connection.

We're Killing a Harmless Snake

A few years ago I saw a snake in the backyard. It was something I'd never seen before, definitely not the harmless thin garter snake. This one wasn't particularly pretty and it was fat. It was coiled. And it hissed a lot.

The cats seemed intrigued and I was freaking out for their safety. Rather than take the time to consult the Snake Book, I got the hoe and dispensed with the fucker in short order, thinking it was out to get all of us.

It was a harmless hognose snake. I have never forgiven myself.

And this is what I see happening in the 2010 elections. We are all so freaked the fuck out, angry, scared, fearing the other, that we are willing to do damage to innocents, just to get the thing out of our midst, even if its intent is good, and even if it isn't being very successful at the moment.

Thus concludes today's lesson.

Flower Power

Back when I was around 8 years old I went to visit my grandmother in Dallas. She was a manager of apartment complexes in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in the 60s and 70s.

I had been out there for some reason....the Texas State Fair or something. And for $5 I bought one of those mechanical sunflowers that would move to the sound of music.

I took it back to my grandmother's office where her hippie girl hired help saw it and was impressed. Hippie Girl wanted to buy it from me. George Harrison was playing in the background.

I refused to sell. Hippie Girl offered me a profit..offering to give me $8 or $10 for this piece of trash which, oddly enough, was not made in China at the time. Probably made in the USA.

But I refused to sell. Because I did not believe in the profit motive. I thought it was dead wrong. And I steadfastly refused. I felt like I was cheating her.

Not much has changed since I was 8.

John Lennon Was It

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will be at peace."

- John Lennon.

Friday Pussy Blog: Tot in a Box Edition

What a week! We're all tired and ready for the weekend.

Sleepy Tot with all his pretty pink parts.

Yawning Tot with all his pretty pink parts.

Does this box make me look enormous? Or just silly?

TOT!

Dinah Needs Dollars

A friend of ours of rather limited means has a sweet little kitteh who is celebrating her 9th birthday by spending two nights in a vet's office and receiving antibiotics.

Got any loose change floating around in your PayPal account? I'm sure Dinah would appreciate any help with her vet bill which is currently around $250. Maybe if we can exceed the vet bill in donations, Dinah might even get some special tasty treats when she does come home.

Click on Dinah and she'll quickly whisk you to a blog where you can contribute in the sidebar.

Let's Dress Up and Go Shopping!

No further comment...

And in the anxiety-I'm-glad-I-don't-have department:

I did set up a Vox account at one point 2 or 3 years ago but never did anything with it, thankfully. Dealing with the demise of Haloscan was enough drama for me, thank you very much.

Boehner Fails in Cigarette Promotion

Too bad the Boehner doesn't share the same attitude about pot, something which actually has some benefits.

Mr. Boehner said he and other Americans should have the right to decide for themselves.

Yeah, tell that to the tens of thousands (and I'm being nice) of Americans serving time for marijuana convictions.

Fucker.

{sigh}

Let me tell you a simple fact: I don't deal with limbo very well. I feel as if my life has been in limbo for several years. I've basically given up on seeing any progress on the political front, and that has caused me to focus on areas where I have more control over the limbo situation -- my personal life.

I can't even seem to figure out if I'm depressed or just incredibly frustrated with this feeling of stagnation. I know a huge part of it is related to my upcoming bankruptcy. I'm not depressed that I'm doing it. On the contrary, I can hardly wait to get it behind me. And I keep putting it off for what appears, to me at least, to be valid reasons; I'm just not at all sure they are worth the wait.

For anyone reading this who isn't aware of the circumstances, my financial woes are not the result of a reckless spending spree beyond my means to pay. I had maintained an impeccable credit record through the years and by 2005 I was basically free of debt, aside from the mortgage, for the first time since I was around 20.

It was in 2005 when I was running my own advertising agency when things got seriously out of control. Where I had been very practical and conservative in the management of my personal budget, I was the exact opposite in the management of business finances. My quest for success, even in the face of impossible odds, completely blinded me to my dire situation. Imagine compressing 18 months of a frantic desire to achieve what wasn't meant to be down to a single intoxicated night in a casino with a wallet full of credit cards and an ATM machine next to the craps table. That is how it seems in retrospect. $150,000 in debt and nothing to show for it except for boxes filled with television station invoices which I would seriously like to remove from my sight.

As my credit score sank into the crapper due to my inability to make even the minimum monthly payments on the cards I had used for cash advances to fund my business, I began receiving notices in the mail from other cards that my credit limits were being reduced. This was happening with cards not used to fund my business; cards which in some cases hadn't even had a balance on them for months.

Ever since that world collapsed at my feet at the close of 2006, I have continued normal everyday life, using the "good" credit cards as I always have -- purchasing day to day necessities like groceries, and paying the balance in full every month. Only one card has never reduced my credit limit. I don't want to name names but it rhymes with uncover. It also offers a very lucrative "cash back" feature which I recently used to order gift cards from Loews and Sears. Most importantly, it was that card and the unaffected credit limit which allowed me to pay for my surgery back in March. So I understand the importance of having a card with a generous credit limit for emergencies.

Things get very tricky when you are filing for bankruptcy. You are required to report certain financial events and transactions, and the one I'm most concerned about is the requirement to "list all payments to any creditors totaling more than $600 made within 90 days immediately preceding the filing" for bankruptcy.

The last payment to that particular card was $1,300 on August 20 and I haven't used it since. My plan is to wait and file for bankruptcy the week of Thanksgiving which will eliminate my need to report that transaction and hopefully leave that card out of the process. Even so, there are no guarantees that the card won't be revoked once I am on record as having filed for bankruptcy. (This is why I redeemed most of my cash-back points for the gift cards!) I'm just hoping, since I have been a card member since 1989 and have a flawless payment record, they will overlook the bankruptcy, just as they overlooked my plummeting credit score and never touched my credit limit.

Part of me has to ask myself if it's even worth the wait. Life won't come to and end just because I have no credit, or very limited credit. Cash-back rewards are great, but in the grand scheme of things, that's not even a cherry on the cake of life.

There are other stressful financial aspects to filing for bankruptcy. I cannot have more than $750 in the bank when I file. These last 4 months of the year are when a lot of recurring expenses come due: car insurance, homeowners insurance, and property taxes. And while I have money to cover those, I have to plan this out very carefully.

The property taxes are the big whopper and I don't think that bill comes until sometime in November which is another reason I have opted to wait. It is possible to pre-pay early, but the funds go into an escrow account rather than actually being paid on the taxes, and then once the bill comes, I have to get on the phone and arrange to have them transfer the funds from the escrow account. It's probably not a big hassle but I'm using it as an excuse to wait. And as I wait, I torture myself.

I am also not dealing very well with the aging process and the resulting recognition of mortality, but if I were to get into that right now, it would double the size of this post, so I will just address it in a way which directly relates to bankruptcy.

My "American Dream" has always been to simply have a roof over my head, live in a comfortable home, and be able to grow a wide variety of vegetables in a large garden. Turning 50 this year made me realize I'm not quite there yet and that perhaps I need to get serious about it if I really want it. We both love everything about our home here in Austin, the neighborhood, and Austin itself. But the soil here, or actually the lack thereof, is not conducive to gardening, nor is the climate particularly accommodating in the summer.

It is also getting increasingly difficult to get away from here to go visit my mother in Arkansas and as she is aging, I should probably be going more often, not less. Living in Arkansas would facilitate having more frequent visits during the last few years of her life and would give me better growing conditions for the garden I so desperately want.

Unfortunately, in the context of my present reality (not to mention the economic reality), this is easier to fantasize about than to actually do. If we were to sell our house for top-dollar, it would not be a problem to pay cash for a house on a decent piece of land somewhere. I'm sure we'd need to since a home loan might be difficult or impossible to acquire right after filing bankruptcy. And then the reality of the logistics sinks in. We have to sell this house before we can buy another. That's likely going to involve a period of time in between with more limbo.

I suppose part of my problem is that I tend to pile too much on myself at once. I need to break this down into manageable segments and accomplish one at a time. Moving is something I should not even be thinking about for at least six months, and then it might not actually happen for another six. That is a worry I do not need to take on right now.

First priority is the bankruptcy. I have a hunch that once that is done, I can perhaps take a deep breath and proceed to take the next step in life with a clearer mind. In the meantime, I need to learn how to cope and focus on the smaller tasks at hand.

Friday Pussy Blog: Apple Fanboy Edition

I can't believe I haven't posted a thing since Sunday. It was not a good week as I was having old router issues preventing me from steady internet access until the new router finally got here on Wednesday. And now suddenly, it's Friday.

The router is amazing.

As you can see, it's an Apple AirPort Extreme. Very simple, very easy to set up, and I'm sold on it! And I'm not the only Apple Fanboy in the house.

I do think amazon should have used a larger shipping box though.

Sunday Bonus Pussy Blog: Liquor Kitteh

I'm always happy when I have an excuse to swing by Oak Hill Liquor because I get some lovin' time with Liquor Kitteh. I was in there yesterday and wishing I had my camera.

Today I was checking to see if they have a Facebook page. They do, and I learned that Liquor Kitteh's real name is Maceo. But to me she'll always be Liquor Kitteh! I snatched a couple of photos from Facebook for your amusement.

She can only handle her booze in kitteh-sized bottles!

Heh..wherz my hooch?

Despair: 2010

I have got to distance myself somewhat from politics. That's not to say I'm going to stop reading or turn off the TV and pretend it doesn't exist. But I do need to get over this notion that my one vote can make a difference when I'm living in a country where 50% of us don't bother to vote, and 95% of those who do think the only serious choices are Democrats or Republicans, with the occasional independent thrown into the mix who, in most cases is either a former Democrat or Republican.

I am exhausted with watching the pendulum swing every election cycle in only two directions: left or right Democrat or Republican.

It was crystal clear to me in 2007 that the economic meltdown was going to be one hell of a bastard, and I could not fathom why anyone would seek the highest office in the land with the job of turning the country around after 8 years of the Bush regime and two wars in progress. For as much as I wanted to see Democrats get swept back into power, it seemed like a suicide mission. Lo and behold, my predictions are right on track.

Unfortunately, we seem dangerously close to returning those to power who helped get us where we are now, because of our frustration that the new guy hasn't restored health, vigor and free-wheeling prosperity to a nation which has been kicked in the gut and is spitting up blood. So let's vote Republican again and get back in the ring for another and final ass-whuppin'?

Well, be my guest. It's your country too. Although I must say I refuse to be held responsible for the outcome. I'm not one of the people who is going to sit out any election due to disenfranchisement with an impotent political system. I will vote, as I always do, with a sound and intelligent mind, for the best candidate on the ballot. I will come home, turn on the TV, and watch as the votes are tallied across this nation. And I will hope for the best. I will hope that ignorance does not prevail. I will hope that racism is not a factor. Without a doubt, in some races I am going to be disappointed. It seems inevitable.

For the last 25 years or so I have waited for the next generation to come of age and get involved politically. And now that the moment is here, I can't begin to express my frustration. Yes, they did seem energized in 2008 by the message of hope and change coming from a man who would make history as the nation's first black president. Whether that enthusiasm will carry on into the 2010 elections remains to be seen. The signs aren't looking very good.

This graphic cracked me up. A few days ago a Facebook friend of mine posted it to her page as-is, and without additional commentary. What soon followed was an eye-opening outburst from a guy hurling insult after insult at blacks, Muslims, gays, and people who work for a living but happen to have a differing political view. He essentially had zero tolerance for anyone who didn't share his beliefs. And this wasn't some fellow with white socks pulled up to his knees and tea bags hanging from his hat; this guy was young enough to be my son. Yep, that's right: the next generation I've been waiting on for two decades. And you can bet your chapped ass he's going to vote.

This was not some isolated incident either. I see this in one form or another on a regular basis, on Facebook and elsewhere. Whereas we once differed by party affiliation (or lack thereof), and on the issue of abortion, we now differ on sexual orientation, whether gay people should be afforded the same right to engage in a state-sanctioned relationship which conveys rights and privileges currently provided to opposite-sex couples. And lately, we have begun to differ over truly inconsequential issues like...where law-abiding Americans should be allowed to build a mosque, and in some cases, whether they should be allowed.

All of this plays perfectly with the building opposition to all things Democrat and Obama. Every single fringe issue does nothing but bolster the opposition and divide the rest of us.

So you'll have to pardon me if I sit quietly the next two months, watching and waiting. It's quite clear I'm not going to change any minds with my viewpoints no matter how eloquently and logically they are presented. So I simply won't waste my time. Besides, Americans of voting age are, by default, adults, and should have the wherewithal to make rational and intelligent decisions based on the plethora of available facts these days. If they, as a voting bloc, manage to usher in a different kind of change which is motivated by fear and hatred, so be it.

I have and will do my small part to prevent that madness from happening. Whether the rest of us of sound mind and body care enough to do the same remains to be seen.

The Greatest Man In The World

Whisky, Tot, and Thurber. Can Friday nights get any better than this?

Friday Pussy Blog: 9 Lives Edition

I mentioned Tiger on my Facebook page a few days ago in joking that he's about 140 years old. He's gotten so feeble in his old age. However, I'm starting to think he wobbles when he walks partly because he's gone completely deaf in the last couple of months. Poor boy.

He says: "Fuck 9 lives; I'm gonna have 12, thank you very much."

And I kanz tuch me noze wit me tung.

Sissy. Relaxing on the bed. What else?

Sweet Pea waiting for the food arrival.

Tater Tot trying his best to supervise work today while feeling drowsy.

It was a week from hell at work. But today was a pretty good day, the office closed early for the long weekend at 2:00 (but I still had some work to finish up), and I won't have to do any this weekend! I get to enjoy a full 3 days off! YAY!

Happy Friday & Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Howdy! My Name Is Earl.

Mind if I swing by?