And THAT'S... Something to Hurl Feces On!

Hey Guys!

Nothing new up in here. It HAS been quiet around this blog. James, I laughed hard when I read your post. So have you started the house hunt over there in Jax?

Mike, attaboy Johnson! Keep up the good work. You certainly have personality!!

Rob, I'm blaming you for my addiction to the Chapelle Show.

Now, where was I... Ah yes: ME. Last weekend I played golf (like crap). My score was nothing to write about but on number 9 (par 5, 3hcp) I shot a bloody eagle! Pure luck because I drained it from 165 yds out with a 3 iron.

Works going good. I just switched to the commission plan and I found out it goes retro to the beginning of March. I had a good March and I'm having a decent April.

Beyond that, not much else is going on. Just enjoying spring.

what IS up?

Look at the 3 lil sissys! Whats going on?? Just chillen out here at the house here. Not a whole lot to talk about, just wanted to say hello. Works going just fine this month. I'll be over quota again for the month. I've been stressing a bit about getting the payrolls I have in right now to run when their supposed to. I could write you all a 10 page essay on payroll & tax laws and what I actually have to get & do to make a multi-state payroll run but Ill just keep it brief.. As you might know every state is different in thier tax requirements. Most states excluding Texas have state taxes and some even have local payroll taxes. Paychex does an audit from the beginning of the year to ensure our client have been making the correct timely deposits and Its really a pain in the ass to get all of this information in time to run a payroll when they want to get paid. I dont know man.. people get so up set when they dont get a paycheck, cant imagine why though.

Whats the latest with you guys.. Robbie anything else on a family get-together at the beach? James it would be cool to come to florida this summer.

What's up?

Hey guys. What's going on? Man, does no one ever post except me? Are y'all lives so boring that you all have nothing to say and nothing better to do than look forward to my bitching about mov . . .

Hey, what's that smell? And--what the hell--why's my chair covered in plastic? This wouldn't be that weblog where that monkey throws poop at you, would it?

My house

Check this out if y'all want to see the MLS listing of my house.

Megan's prom

Hey guys. Here are some pictures from Megan’s Senior Prom last weekend:



Taking a few photos before her date arrives.



Damn, is she beautiful or what? Wish I could claim some of the credit but she gets it all from her mom.



Pinning the flower. This was posed just for the picture. I had to pin the boutanierre on him to get it to stay. BTW, his name is Badger and yes, he needs a shave and a haircut but Megan's known him forever and he's a good kid.



And off they go in the limo!

Don't change the dizzle... I'm BACK

Man, I haven't posted in about a month... Miss me?

I'll call Courtney tomorrow. I just need to go tell Natalie to remind me to do it. Then it'll be as good as done buddy! I can't believe she is going to be 10!! Wow. I know you are anxious to get up there and lay some roots down. Once you do, we want to come see how YOU do it in FLA.

Rob, How's the back?

Mike, how're you livin?

Actually, I don't have anything new to report. We have a happy little routine of life going on up here. It's really nice. These are "the salad days" as it were. I'm getting more learned at my job, I'm getting a bit better at guitar, I still suck at golf (though I was hitting them well at the range earlier this evening), and I'm continuing to grow in my relationship with Christ.

You know, some people talk about growing in their relationship with Christ like they would talk about their growing stock portfolio or something. I don't want to do that. Bear with me as I share a thought: Spiritual growth is not intellectual. If it were, it would be pleasing; like reading a good book. Rather it is wrought with emotion and it hurts sometimes.

Let me try to illustrate: Recently I have been dealing with some anger as part of dealing with dad's passing. Not in any major way but in my quiet moments, like lying in bed just before sleep. I would get bombarded with unwelcome, bitter thoughts until I became saturated by them.

Then I would remember something that I learned intellectually: God is faithful to unburden you if you pray about it. So I did. God let me pour myself out and get rid of the bitterness and it really worked! It took really opening up (were talking heavy snot and tears prayer) but it worked. No credit can go to me for this. It was all Him. I may need to do it again tomorrow, if not tonight. The point is I knew this in my head but it didn't grow me spiritually until I had this situation.

Don't think that I'm boasting. I'll never arrive at total spiritual maturity and completion, nor will anyone else. There is no question that I still have bad junk in my heart. We all do. The great thing is that as long as we are in the process, we are allright with Him. Anyone who thinks they have achieved total enlightenment (or whatever) should, as it is written "...take heed, lest he fall".

Anyway, I didn't really plan to write this until I got going with it. I just wanted to share my heart with you's. It seems as though you only have to jostle me a little and this stuff spills out. I know I'm becoming the spiritual Cooper, just please don't call me the church-lady Cooper wouldja?

Deadwood is not dead wood

I don't know if any of you cretins is a fan of it or not, but Erica and I have been watching Deadwood on DVD lately. I like it, but I don't know that I'd really recommend it.

For those who don't know, it's about a post-Civil War gold rush town in the Dakota Badlands. The show is gritty as all hell and extremely well-acted and written. It's done by David Milch of NYPD Blue fame and you can tell that he's having fun here not having to worry about network censors. Sometimes, though, the profanity can get to be a bit too much. Lord knows, I'm not of a delicate nature when it comes to salty language, but I seriously doubt that epithets like "cocksucker" and "cunt" were hurled around as promiscuously - if at all - in the Old West as they are shown here. But that's a quibbling objection. The show is incredible and what makes it so - or I should say who makes it so - is the performance of the actor who plays saloon owner and chief villain Al Swearingen. Englishman Ian McShane plays the part and, I swear to God, if they ever make a movie where the devil is portrayed as merely a man and not some CG cartoon with horns and tail, he would be perfect for it. His rough voice and cruelly lined face (see it and you'll know what I'm talking about) would make him a natural for Old Scratch.

There was an incredible scene on the episode we watched the other night where Swearingen gets upset after learning that another saloon is opening up across the street from him. This is a man who most definitely shoots messengers who bring him bad news but he knows that he can't just walk over and shoot his rival without himself being killed. So, he stalks around like a caged tiger, barely able to suppress his fury.

"Goddamn it," he growls, "I gotta fuck something . . . and I need a drink!"

A really cool movie came out a few years ago. It was an English gangster film called Sexy Beast that starred Ben Kingsley as the chief bad guy. Ben fucking Kingsley of all people! Well, believe it or not, mister Gandhi plays such a ferociously good villain that he gave me chills. Y'all, for a much better review of Sexy Beast than I could ever write, read this. Well, I can't imagine that finding someone who could play Kingsley's boss, someone even meaner and more menacing than he is, was easy, but Ian McShane pulled it off.

Deadwood is not for the faint of heart and certainly not for anyone put off by seeing a lot of unwashed, low men angle against and sometimes even kill each other as they pan for gold. But, if you got a few hours to kill, it's definitely worth a look.

Dude, where's my life?

Not a whole lot to say lately, just working like hell and doing my thang. We finally got our house on the market last weekend and got the sign up. I hired the local Coldwell Banker realtor to list our house. You'd have thought the for-sale sign was a dog taking a crap in our yard too, the way Courtney glared at it when we stuck it in the ground. She does not like the idea of moving, to put it mildly. Frankly, neither do I. Guys, if I could have my job here in San Antonio, I'd be content to stay there forever. But, I don't so off we go. C'est la vie.

Hey y'all, speaking of the Goose, tomorrow's her 10th birthday. I know it's short notice but she'd sure appreciate a call tomorrow night. Man, where does the time go? If anyone's interested, we're having a bowling party for her this weekend.

Oh! I almost forgot, Megan had her senior prom this past weekend, too. I'll post the photos soon. She was so beautiful, she took my breath away.

Well, gotta get back to work. It's 8:30 as I type this and I'll probably be here until about 10pm. That's my life Monday thru Thursday right now.

Helllllooooooooo! Is there anyone out there?

I think this is a record for you James. I can't believe that you haven't read, watched, heard, eaten or drinken anything interesting in the last week and a half. What up?!

Speak for yourself...I'm still young....er than you!

I'm still clinging to my youth by the tips of my fingernails. As for my gut...Liposuction! And when I do, I will post the pre and post op pictures on this blog.

BTW, in case you missed it while it was in the theatres, the movie Sideways is out on DVD. Rebekah and I saw it in on the big screen last week and loved it.

Since we started this blog doing reviews, I will only say that it is one of the best movies that I have seen in years. It was a low budget movie that caught a lot of buzz at last years Cannes film festival and through word of mouth became the biggest hit of the past 12 months. It's a character driven story about 2 middle aged men (think James and Me) going on a road trip through the Napa valley on the way to one of the guy's wedding, determined to have one last adventure. The sub plot involves one of the guys obsession with wine, especially Pinot Noir (which I have sense come to greatly appreciate)

Anyway, see the movie. As for me, I am going to the Astros game tonight (opening night) with my boss, my bosses boss, and a customer. Should be a hoot.

What are you looking at, my gut?! I'm working on it!

Happy birthday wishes go out to the Rob man who is a well-aged 36 today. I finished a biography about Theodore Roosevelt last night and the author, talking about how TR was the youngest president in our history at 43, had attained the office in his "early middle age." That's what you and I are approaching, bro. Both of us - me more so than you - are staring early middle age squarely in the face. Enjoy!