Tag: Austin

Local things

Catchup blogging lite

It’s been an insanely busy month; I’ve not bookmarked much this time. Hell, I might even be able to categorize them for you this time around…

G bought a rocket, and with the rains we’ve had recently, we MIGHT be able to use it soon:

And since we’re going to a wedding in Houston next weekend…

I’ve made it through the 4th season, and am giving it a second go…

And to riff on that; “There’s always sysadmin bookmarks in J’s catchup blogging…”

And just a few more things:

Texas parents of students taking STAAR tests, you can track the entire history of their scores here (and I learned G’s science score before it arrived int he mail!):

A game recommented by a new work colleague, probably friend…

And G want to cook up some flan:

Remarkably few bookmarks, now with annotations! Hope you enjoy…

Catching up more often, lately

Blog catchup, yet again

And a special collection of pumpkin seed roasting recipes

A once-in-a-lifetime kind of evening…

We went out to see stand-up comedy, spur of the moment. The headliner was Marc Maron.

Interestingly, between the opening act and the headliner were two acts — where there usually is just one.

What made it a once-in-a-lifetime thing? Every act was strong. Honestly, there was no weak material. I’ve never had that happen before in my life.

Oh, and it’s too late. They’ve moved on.

Oh, and we got in under the wire.  No, they didn’t sell out, no SRO here.  I’m pointing out that in a few weeks I could have had to sit through Craig Shoemaker again.

Go fly a kite

Something to remember — this is important!

The Zilker Kite Festival is coming on the 4th of March. It’s supposed to be windy and warm today, so I may try to take G out to practice locally.

And just how often do I remember to blog about things that are upcoming? How often do I remember about the kite thing before it happens?

This must be a daddy thing.

Then again, you must also remember to not use razor-sharp string.

Strength and lonliness

Normally, weekend nights when we are home, we watch PBS Britcoms.

Tonight, PBS Mystery — a Brittish adaptation of Dracula — ran long. Instead of britcoms, we were presented with a half-hour animated musing on lonliness called “A Room Nearby“.

Instead of feeling for these people, I felt smug. They are talking about how lonliness is isolating, and dwelling on the negative aspects thereof, whereas by the time I was 14, I relished my lonliness, and used every moment of it that I could grab to forge my own identity.

C’mon, folks. Lonliness is not an affliction. It is not a curse. It is not neccisarily rejection by society. Even if it were, so what if it is? Take this time to forge yourself stronger. I cannot deny the ability of wallowing insofar as it can be a tool to eventually strenghten oneself, as much of the time that I now realize has made me stronger involved nothing more involved than myself and a Rubik’s Cube — or less (but we won’t go there today, WILL WE!?!), and faced with the almost archival fact that nearly 1/3 of gay teens attempt suicide (isn’t that number lower yet?), I can understand the need for such — well, what is it? A Short Film? A TV show? A mini-series? I must not be the target demgraphic. I’ve always had soneone to talk to, no matter how young or old.

I keep saying that “I am nobody’s demographic.” Whenever I say that, I feel that I’m being disingenuious. Then I think about it — Aside from “Dexter”, what have I found in popular culture to attract me? Certainly not the Police performing tonight. I have a Simpson-esque attitude toward almost all awards shows — or is that Allen-esque? No matter, because both those terms imply a marketability, in the sense that “Pythonesque” is now in the OED, which has allegedly disappointed John Clesse as much as I presume I must also be disappointed.

I’m still not going to hold back about my concerns about weakness, which I think if one of my greatest strenghts. Combine the best of New York City — that is, the directness; the best of San Francisco (ummmm, no comment), and the laid-backness of Austin, and you’ve pretty much got me.

And that all said, I still get both 80’s film references, and Pynchon references.

Oh, and I’m one of the best unix geeks you’ll ever meet. I’ve learned from the best of the best of the cream of the crop. I can make perl and sh sing.

And PBS is still playing “Keeping up Appearnaces”. Sigh.

And the kicker is: she wasn’t even vaguely overweight!

So, we went golfing today. Actually, I caught up with Cy on the 10th hole, where we had to play from the red tees, because a wedding was taking place on the gold tee box there. Nice set-up.

Then, we play the back nine, and as we’re driving back to the car from the 18th hole, we pass the bride, waiting in the passenger seat of another golf cart.

In my mind, I immediately saw that the driver was the person who was going to give her away, and he was going to drive her up the aisle in the cart. She would get out, and the rigamarole about “Who gives this woman…” “…I do” would be followed by the protracted beeeeeeeeeeep as he put the cart into reverse and backed up to his seat.

I know I’d love for that to happen at my wedding!

Long traffic jams in small Texas towns leads to cynicism

So, we’re going to my company picnic, and there was the big motorcycle rally in Austin this weekend…

And, of course, there’s a fatality. On I-35 southbound. On our way to the picnic.

And, of course, all 3 lanes of the highway come to a (more or less) complete stop. Even the access road…

Two hours it took us to get through the town of Kyle, TX.

Cy said

I’ve never spent so much time in Kyle

My response? (rated PG-13) Continue reading “Long traffic jams in small Texas towns leads to cynicism”

What a warm first day of spring

What a day for Grace to learn to ride her big girl bike! (The Dora one, not the Disney one.)
Daddy Cy helping Grace ride her big girl bikeGrace rode her big girl bike around the block and to the park, then rode it back home after swinging and climbing for a while. Swinging at the park
Then, she rode around the cul-de-sac for a while.More of the first day riding the big girl bike

Beautiful!