Riding with the window down…

Okay, so I am about a year into this “change of life” that culminated in my marriage and the addition of three amazing kids to my household - so what’s the verdict?  Duh - you KNOW I think it rocks.

A lot has changed in the last year.  Again - duh.  I am writing this post sitting in our new chocolate shop - Sweet Wimberley, located right off the square in Wimberley, Texas… who saw THAT coming?  Dawn, the kids, and I own five acres in the beautiful hill country that surrounds Wimberley.  I drive kids to school in the mornings, take them to scouts and Young Women’s at the church and barbecue in the backyard.  My long-time friends ask, “Who are you and what did you do with Chris?”  He just grew up is all.

I spend each day more thankful than the one before.  I am thankful that I was born in the United States, thankful that I grew up and live in Texas, thankful for my beautiful, intelligent wife, thankful for the blessings that are Kenzie, Logan and Dallin, thankful that I have the best Mom ever, thankful for life lessons taught by my father, thankful to have intelligent and fun siblings that wouldn’t hesitate to give me the shirt off their backs, thankful for the opportunities I have had to learn and to grow along the way, thankful to be surrounded by great friends, thankful for my health and thankful most of all that, despite a lifetime of stubbornness and pride, I have learned to stop and be grateful - to acknowledge just how lucky I am.

When something goes right for a person, you have heard them exclaim, “must be good living.”  I hope where I find myself now is a reward for trying to do the right thing, but even if it isn’t - I’ll take it.

I walked Lou this morning and was reminded to give myself quiet time.

Have a great day and remember to schedule some downtime.

Just a quick jaunt through the back acreage to discuss winning and losing.

Hope all is well in your world!

Upon discovering a scorpion in the bathtub of our new house this morning, I was reminded of a poem that absolutely enthralled me as a child of about 7 or 8. The piece, called “Hell in Texas” was in a book of poetry that my mom kept around the house and has stuck with me to this day.

We had recently moved to Texas from Minnesota and for a wide-eyed kid to find himself smack dab in the middle on the biggest of the big places in the world - Texas, was amazing. I instantly fell in love with the larger-than-life characters of Texas history as well as the rugged, individualistic swagger that said (without a word) - Texan!

When I discovered the poem, I read it over and over until I had it memorized. This is the only poem in my life I have ever memorized. It just meant that much to me. Without further prefacing, let me post it:

Hell in Texas

The Devil, we’re told, in hell was chained,
and a thousand years he there remained,
and he never complained, nor did he groan,
but determined to start a Hell of his own
where he could torment the souls of men
without being chained to a prison pen.

So he asked the Lord if he had on hand
anything left when he made the land.
The Lord said, “yes, i had plenty on hand,
but i left it down on the Rio Grande.
The fact is, old boy, the stuff is so poor,
i don’t think you can use it in Hell anymore.”

But the Devil went down to look at the truck,
and said if it came as a gift, he was stuck;
for after examining it careful and well
he concluded the place was too dry for hell.
So in order to get it off his hands
God promised the Devil to water the lands.

For he had some water, or rather some dregs,
a regular cathartic that smelt like bad eggs.
Hence the deal was closed and the deed was given,
and the Lord went back to his place in Heaven,
and the Devil said, “I have all that is needed
to make a good Hell.” And thus he succeeded.

He began to put thorns on all the trees,
and he mixed the sand with millions of fleas,
he scattered tarantulas along all the roads,
put thorns on the cacti and horns on the toads;
he lengthened the horns of the Texas steers
and put an addition on jack rabbit’s ears.

He put little devils in the bronco steed
and poisoned the feet of the centipede.
The rattlesnake bites you, the scorpion stings,
the mosquito delights you by buzzing his wings.
The sand burrs prevail, so do the ants,
and those that sit down need half soles on their pants.

The Devil then said that throughout the land
he’d manage to keep up the Devil’s own brand,
and all would be mavericks unless they bore
the marks and scratches and bites by the score.
The heat in the summer is a hundred and ten,
too hot for the devil and too hot for men.

The wild boar roams through the black chaparral,
it’s a Hell of a place he has for Hell;
the red pepper grows by the bank of the brook,
the Mexicans use it in all that they cook.
Just dine with a greaser and then you will shout,
“I’ve a Hell on the inside as well as without.”

Thank you Mom for having the book in the first place and for instilling in me a love of reading, thank you Dawn for the conversation this morning that reminded me of this lost gem, and thank you Hap for doing the legwork to track it down and send it to me.

Most of all - thank YOU for reading.

I am toying with posting this only to YouTube, but still may post it to facebook as well.

In this one, I take some time out to introduce a short video of Lou and then wish everyone a good Spring Break.

There are two seasons where you can usually count on seeing a good movie or two - the Summer blockbusters and the Christmas blockbusters. This Christmas season has provided me with two good movie outings. Both of them made me skeptical at first, but in the end, both delivered solid entertainment.

First up was Avatar - the nearly HALF A BILLION DOLLAR blockbuster by James Cameron. Visually, this film was amazing. This is another notch in Cameron’s bankability belt - when his name is on it - you’re looking at a hit. Even lame films like the last Terminator do well - because Cameron is associated with it. (Interestingly, Sam Worthington - who played the lead, Jake Sully was also in the last Terminator and will be in the remake of Clash of the Titans, he has action hero star written all over him.)

This film really had little to do with Cameron or Worthington… it was all about the CGI and in that respect, it ROCKED! Sure, the storyline was weak and a very transparent political/social commentary. Sure, the characters were as stereotypical as anything to come out of Hollywood. But visually, Avatar made you overlook all the flaws.

It was slow in the opening third of the film and predictable throughout, but you just couldn’t take your eyes off the screen. I would watch it again just for the visuals.

RATING 7 out of 10

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Next was Guy Ritchie’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes as portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. Now you have to understand that there is likely no more important fictional character in my life than Sherlock Holmes. I have always loved Holmes, and I have seen every single incarnation available. For that reason, I was extremely nervous seeing the previews for this film as it looked to be nothing like the legend created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Downey was nothing like the Basil Rathbone or Jeremy Brett Holmes (my favorite) but not nearly as quirky as the trailers made it appear.

Yeah, he did a serviceable interpretation, but in the end, there was too much Robert Downey Jr. in the character. He was no different than he was in Iron Man - no different than he was in The Pickup Artist - no different than he has been in ALL of his roles. Face it - Downey has no range. Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of RDJ and I think he may have a role that he could continue for years in Holmes. This is a great character for him to play because Holmes is so cocksure, smart, and witty. The fact that so many older people have played the character successfully leads me to think that he could be doing remakes for a couple more decades without missing a beat. This is one instance when typecasting is a good fit.

Because Holmes has been such an important literary figure in my life, I am sure that I will see each and every incarnation of the famed sleuth of 221B Baker Street, and although I will be skeptical, I will give them a fair shake. Robert Downey Jr. I can get used to - Jude Law as Watson I can get used to - Rachel McAdams as his tough-as-nails female foil, uh, I guess - Guy Ritchie, MTV-generation fight sequences in a period piece like this…. that may be a little tougher.

RATING 8 out of 10

It is Saturday night and I have just returned from the final concert of the season for the Victoria Symphony Orchestra’s 35th season. I had heard several good things about the Symphony and Music Director/Conductor Darryl One - it is all true.

This was one of their Master Series featuring guest artists. Yuqing Meng, the 2007 Davidson Fellow, was born in Shanghai China and begun his musical studies at age 4. By the age of 12, Meng made his orchestral debut with the New York Philharmonic. He was the featured performer for Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto #1 in B-flat minor op.23 and his skill was amazing.

There was also a organ symphony that really just dragged on and wasn’t all that interesting. Overall though, the night was a lot of fun and even included reconnecting with an old professor of mine from the Victoria College days. Professor Michael Hummel taught History and Western Civilization, and was one of the most entertaining lecturers I remember from that period.

Prior to the symphony, I went to “The World Goes ‘Round” presented by Texas State University with my mother and Hap. The show featured classics from the famous musicals “Chicago,” “Cabaret,” “New York, New York” and many more. This was the highlight of the weekend as the talent of all the student performers was brilliant. The music was great, the story was great, the voices were great - the evening was superb.

I swing by one of my favorite out of the way spots in Houston, this time with Lou.

I just heard some horrible news from my good friend, Tony. His dog, Ginger, has some sort of advanced sinus cancer that has already spread extensively. From what I understand, the prognosis is not good at all.

I am just crushed by the news because Ginger is such a great dog and the absolutely sweetest girl.

Crap, I am without words. I wish Tony, Julie, and Ginger all the best and know that nothing I can say can help, but wanted them to know I am thinking of them.

Lou has this habit of getting greedy when it comes to chew toys, rawhides, you name it. Here is what he did today when Lola got a new rawhide.

So I went and bought a four-pack of rawhides and gave them two each at the same time. What did he do? He took his to “his spot” in the yard and came back one at a time and grabbed her two. He then sat there trying to decide how he could take one off and chew and still protect his stash. Its pretty funny to watch.