Riding with the window down…

“What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“”Learn as if you were to live forever.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

Okay, I would start this post with a litany of excuses for why I have been away from writing, but a) they are too numerous to mention and b) you could probably care less. In any event, my life has gone through some major changes (all for the good) and it has certainly drawn my attention away from the cyber-community.

Here are the Cliff Notes - if you want the details, give me a call or stay tuned as all will become clearer with time. I reunited with my former high school girlfriend after being apart twenty-something years. We have a new place in Wimberley where I am living with my new family - the two of us and three amazing kids. Long story short - things are going great and I expect there will be a boatload of interesting stories as I embark on my next great adventure. It has already left all of my previous undertakings in the dust in terms of fun, excitement and pure joy. Stay tuned!

Mom, Avis (her sister) and myself took a trip out to Goliad, Texas today and it turned out to be a nice little jaunt. First, we headed over to the Presidio La Bahia, the mission where nearly 400 Texan captives were gunned down in cold blood by the invading Mexican army. This, along with the recent massacre at the Alamo in San Antonio, inspired Texans to rally behind General Sam Houston as his army conquered the Mexican dictator, Santa Anna at San Jacinto just outside the city that would be renamed in his honor, Houston.

The story of the Presidio La Bahia is fascinating and being able to walk the only fully restored Spanish mission in the United States is inspiring in itself.

For more pics, of the days events - head to my Flickr page

After that, we had a great lunch on the town square at The Empresario. It is a great little small town restaurant where everyone knows everyone else. It was great to watch the interactions. One gentleman, after finishing his lunch, walked toward the front door. It took him nearly 20 minutes to cover the 30 feet as he had to shake hands, and stop and talk with nearly every person in the place. I really dig small towns.

After that, we walked across the street to the courthouse square and particularly the “Hangin’ Tree.”

What a gorgeous old oak! The legend says that as soon as someone was found guilty in the courthouse, they were escorted outside, a rope was tossed over the tree limb and justice was meted out on the spot.

All in all, it was a fun excursion just a few miles outside of Victoria and a great opportunity to have more conversations with Avis and Mom. Fun stuff!

As many of you know, from time to time, I post entries from my journal back in college. It covers a lot of what happened in the area of dating, sports, some world affairs - just general stuff of interest to a dude making his way in college. (ie mostly girls)

Something interesting happened tonight when talking to an old girlfriend (not sure if that is really the right term - but I know I definitely had a thing for her - that’s all I am saying and you’ll see why.)

We got back in touch recently via facebook and were talking about things “back in the day.” One thing led to another and I remembered those series of blog entries. Sure enough, I did a search on her name and found at least 15 posts which mentioned her. I started reading through them and suddenly realized that some of it was very revealing of my feelings at the time. As posts to random people in cyberspace, I could care less that they knew what was going on back in college - but in the context of one of the involved parties now able to read my attitude toward her, feelings I had kept to myself, and things that happened without her knowledge - it was a bit scary.

Would this information change her perception of the events of the past? Most likely. Would it be for the better? Who knows. Was it right to put that out there and risk causing her pain in reading? I don’t think the truth is wrong, but would never want to hurt her. Would she just find it hilarious that I was such a dork and so insanely immature? I hope so.

I told her on the phone that I am going to rush out and delete the posts, but I knew I wasn’t. It is an interesting dilemma, but despite the fact that I was indeed a boorish, self-centered, cocky jerk at times in college - I just hope that the underlying “good guy” in me can be seen through the immaturity.

I am not sure the outcome or if she will even bother to go out and read the stuff, but the good thing to come from it is that it has reminded me to keep posting those entries. I will restart when I get back to San Marcos.

Was it more or did the oaths of office for both the President and Vice-President not seem very official?

Biden, rather than saying “the duties of the office of Vice-President of the United States” said “the duties of the office on which I am about to enter”

And the way Judge Roberts butchered Obama’s oath, I couldn’t tell if it was valid or not.  What do you think?

A quick video before the end of the year

The title of this post was stolen from Jake Cordova who posted that as a comment when I uploaded this video to Facebook

It was a joyous game for the fans of the Carthage Bulldogs as their team defeated the legendary Celina Bobcats in the final high school football game to ever be played at Texas Stadium. For the staff, fans of the stadium, and the media folks who grew up with the stadium, it was sad - the end of an era.

No rest for the weary however, as I have to catch some shut-eye before heading to Houston for two more championship games later today.

I used to be a big fan of Carl’s Jr. hamburgers - we are talking from way back in the day (like the 80’s.) Although I had never actually eaten one until much later, they advertised on all the LA Lakers games. Being a Laker fan since I started watching basketball, and being the the burger seemed exotic (as it wasn’t available in Texas) I liked the thing.

When I actually did get out to California, it was the first fast food outing I made. I have to say, I was not impressed, it tasted like a more expensive version of the Hardees burger. (Which was available in Nacogdoches where I attended college, and I later discovered was owned by the same company.)

In any event, I don’t eat a lot of fast food burgers anymore, but I will give the new Carl’s Jr. in San Marcos a try for nostalgia if nothing else.

I am guessing that Paris Hilton is not included.

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed; those who are cold and are not clothed.”

– Dwight D.Eisenhower