Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Pedophile Politicians

Had to share this. It came from the strange but true news from aol.

I just thought we had the dirtiest politicians!

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/dutch-pedophiles-to-launch-political/n20060530085709990013?cid=936

Sunday, May 28, 2006

The Power of Persuasion

This is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. I don't really know why, or maybe I do and don't care to share..but either way...

All of have heard this phrase, "The Power of Persuasion..." in some form or another. I try to be careful when it comes to assumptions, but this is one I'll climb out on the limb for. So, we've all heard this phrase, but I don't know if we've all thought about it...here are my thoughts.

This isn't based much on persuasion from outside sources or people (peer pressure), but more on the power you have over yourself.

One of the most obvious proofs of this occurrence is the "self-fulfilled prophecy". The number one example happens in offices and on jobsites through out the world. Ted comes in on Wednesday with a little sniffle and claims he thinks he's coming down with something, on Thursday he knows he's getting the flu, and on Friday he calls in sick. I'm not saying that Ted didn't have a little bug in his system, but what I'm asking is if he hadn't told everyone that he was coming down with something, would he have come down with something? Man, that's a long sentence with bad grammar!

I do not think that you can talk your self into actually contracting the flu, but that you can talk yourself into having the symptoms. Let's take the bird flu for example. This is a very scary thing that seems to have an inevitable path to the United States. Let's hope not, but it is a very real possibility. Right now there haven't been any cases of the bird flu reported, so let's get Ted back in the picture. Let's say Ted is just a very negative person and he thinks that he's just going to definitely be the first one with the bird flu. So he starts feeling the symptoms coming on...I didn't even know what the bird flu symptoms were so I had to look them up here http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/270104avianflu.html
it seems that many of them are the same as any other type of cold or flu, so this makes it really easy for Ted to believe he has the bird flu even if he only has a common cold.

Now let me just make this clear...Ted (or you) cannot make yourself have the bird flu. You can say it all you want, but this is a virus and you cannot make your body produce this virus. What you can do is make your body feel the symptoms of this virus. Then what you do is start over thinking everything, and soon you think you have pneumonia and will die soon...Persuasion.

I don't know that this is exactly what happens, hell I'm just an uneducated, alcoholic from a small town in North Texas...but I do have opinions and sometimes I like to read myself type.

So here is my question...I don't believe that you can talk your body into having a virus, but I do believe that you can talk your body into believing it does and therefore the symptoms occur...so, can you talk your body into fighting something that is not present in your body? Will your body, by persuasion, form anti-bodies to fight an enemy in your body that is not present? How powerful is your persuasion?

I'm no doctor, I've never played one on TV, and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I'm not claiming that my remarks neither past nor present are factual.

So here are more of my thoughts on this subject. You cannot argue that bad things in your body cause bad things to happen. If there is a harmful bacteria in your body, then your body will react to it, but wouldn't you think the way you react to these feelings would affect the way the sickness affects you? If Teddy boy starts to feel the blahs coming on, couldn't he say, "I've got something going on, but it will not get me down!" Would this lessen his symptoms and the terms of his sickness? Certainly you've said or heard someone say, "I'm too busy to be sick right now" and then they just keep working. Of course, I'm not saying that this is always best. I know of a few times where I was too busy to be sick, but when the work got done...so was I. Down and out for the long count.

I'm confusing myself now...let me switch to another thought that all of us can relate to (whether you want to admit it or not). Hmmm...its probably time for another disclaimer. I have never and probably will never be politically correct. Don't really care to be. So the next few paragraphs may not suit you much.

So one of the most obvious examples of the mind and the body clashing happens behind the closed restroom door. Ha ha, this is going to be fun. How many times have you been driving down the road, or walking through a department store or grocery store aisle when you heard and felt the rumble of the gut.

"Oh Shit!"

What are you going to do? This is especially more of a problem when you're in the car (or at the parents house of the girl that you have just started dating and you're meeting them for the first time...that's embarassing) and you start looking around for big trees or super clean restrooms. They're not out there. You try to talk your body into holding out for just a little longer. Then you feel the pressure subside a bit...your mind has won this round, and if you're lucky its bought you enough time to get home.

There it is again...this time it feels more like a big foot pressing down on your abdomen.

"Stay together cheeks!"

Round two is a little more difficult. There is still the chance that you can talk your body into clamping down for a bit longer, but its not a given...its touch and go at this point. Let's say for the sake of your pride that you win round two. Please let us get home!

"Uh oh!"

There isn't going to be a round four...this is a high-pressure situation and action has to be taken soon. You're trying to talk directly to the last line of defense here..."Clamp Up!!! Clamp Up!!!"

It's amazing how your opinion of public restrooms is tied so directly to the urgency of your situation.

Once again, for the sake of dexterity...let's say you make it home. Once there you take the proper steps to alleviate the problem, and all is well. You've never felt better.

The moral?

The mind can work at great lengths to battle what the body throws at it. The attitude that one takes to those situations greatly affects the outcome of the situation. Never have you heard someone feel the rumble in the bowels and say, "Well, I think I'm going to go ahead and shit my pants!" No, he holds out as long as he can. (There are a few out there that couldn't hold on long enough), so why wouldn't we all take the same stand against sickness. Why not say, "I feel something coming on, but I'm not going to let it take me down!" next time you get a little sniffle. In the end, the body (or the material things inside it that are tearing it down) is going to get some sort of victory. But with the correct thoughts, you could make sure that the victory is a small one.

The attitude you take in life is always going to affect your life's outcome. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, but this last week and the week to come have been and will be pretty trying. I could have laid down and cried about all this, but that wouldn't have done any good. I did have to change a few things, as to my normal activities, but I've always made it through the trials in the past...and my attitude is that I'll make it through these too.

On the same line I'll answer the very ugly e-mail pertaining to the title of my blog. It basically said that I was a cruel person for claiming I was lucky to have something that many people suffer through for real. That no one with bipolar disorder would ever consider themselves lucky.

I answer you in public brother!!! I think there are many people who don't see their "disorder" as the worst thing that can happen to a person. Their attitude towards their situation dictates their being. Second of all, I'm a very creative person. Sometimes after days of no sleep, I come up with some of my best material. Sometimes, when I feel so low that I'll no longer make it, I write the most upbeat song on the album. Sometimes, when I feel so high that I am actually skipping through the house, I write the prettiest ballad you've ever heard. Have you ever researched the lives of the most famous people? Have you ever seen how the geniuses out there were completely fucked up? There is a very thin line between genius and insanity!

How can I feel Lucky? If I were normal, I'd just be normal! Maybe I am normal, and you are just less than normal! By the way, check this out

http://www.mental-health-today.com/bp/famous_people.htm

Sunday, May 21, 2006

The Bandit Runs Again!

So I headed out for the San Antonio Airport around 4:00 a.m. on Friday...my flight was at 6:25 and I should get there around 5...this should all be good. I know if I were going to the Austin airport it would all work out fine...I knew this.

I've told this story so many times this weekend I'm forcing myself to cut it short...I'll just tell you that I missed my flight due to problems with the security check point. I tried to get on the next flight, but there were no promises to be made as the flight was overbooked...It also seems the last one was overbooked as well, even though there were several other passengers other than myself who did not make it aboard.

The Dilemma:

Johnny B's wedding is in Santa Fe at 3:30 (ish), which I've just found out, and I'm sitting in the San Antonio airport at 7:30 (ish) trying to figure out how I'm going to get there. I call United (my original airline) and they cannot help me much. I think I may save this for a whole other topic, but let me say that United Airlines and the San Antonio Airport rate a little bit lower than dog shit on my list. So I get on the cell phone and start trying to figure out how I'm going to get the Land of Enchantment, and I'm needing a little Indian blessing to get me there. ABIA, Austin, TX, has got nothing...the flight gets to Albuquerque at 4:30 which is about the time that John, his beautiful new wife, and their wedding party are getting set to parade through the plaza...this won't work.

John makes a crazy suggestion and I make the call...Continental Airlines can get me there at 12:45 (mnt time) and it leaves at 11:45 (cst) from Houston...this sounds all good, but its almost 8:00 (we're still CST, cause I'm still in Texas) If you check www.mapquest.com you'll see that it's an estimated 3 hours and 21 minutes from the San Antonio airport to the Houston Intercontinental airport. Its a little over 215 miles and this estimation does not include the fact that I'm leaving San Antonio as the morning rush hour is at its peak, and will be entering Houston as the Lunch rush begins.

East Bound and Down, Loaded up and Truckin'
We're Going to Do What They Say Can't Be Done

I call John and tell him I think I can make it...I mean I need to be somewhere that takes a little over three hours to get to, and I need to be there in a little over two (parking, check in, security) so I tell him and the boys to think Jerry Reed! This is John Phillips, this isn't one of the best friends I've ever had...this is one of the best friends I will ever have and by God I will be there.

We've got a long way to go, and a short time to get there

So its about 8:05 or so when I hit the road. It takes me a bit to get to I-10 from the airport, but I feel I can make up some time on the big road. I do a little math in my head and think that if I average 80 miles an hour, then I will be there in time to make the flight.

Keep your foot hard on the pedal....son, never mind them brakes.....
Let it all hang out 'cause we've got a run to make

So I stake the pedal and hit the road...I've slept about and hour and a half since the night before and I'm ready to rock. I'd love to have a wild police chase story, but there's not much. I'm actually going to leave out the details of how fast and what kind of moves I had to make to get to Houston on time, because I fear incriminating myself. Let's just say that I don't normally drive this way.

So, you gotta' dodge him, you gotta' duck him
you gotta' keep that diesel truckin'
just put that hammer down and give it hell

As I said before, I left SA at 8 or so and was headed to Houston to hop a flight that was set to leave at 11:45. I entered Bush Intercontinental at around 10:55...my tires were squealing as I slid into a top floor parking spot...a Continental Kiosk met me at the C terminal's front door (oh man, I left out part of the story. I was checking flight status by phone, but they never could confirm the terminal...my heart told me C, although it could have very well have been B, which is the one I flew back into today) I had a ticket in hand and my carry on luggage at the security check point at 11:05 and at 11:15 I was sitting on Continental flight 127, a 737 out of gate C-40, waiting to taxi out and head to New Mexico.

I promise to fill you all in a little better on the United/Continental story. I just don't want to waste the rage I feel in a blog, and then have vented before I can tear in to the United people tomorrow.

I hit the ground running. John's brother-in-law, Stephen, plays the part of Hero by driving the 60 miles (give or take...you check map quest...I don't want to... www.mapquest.com ) to load me up and take me back to a throw on a tux and shave off some facial hair. You see I hadn't bothered to shave before I left..because I was supposed to arrive in Albuquerque at 9:27 that morning...but at 9:27 I was tearing up the black-top going East so that I might make it out West for a wedding.

We make it and I'm at the church on time. (talk about anti-climactic!)

The story might end here...it's late (again)...I can't sleep (again)...and there's more...but I just have to get to work on my e-mail to whoever can fire the President of United Airlines. That's whom I want to talk to.

I can say quickly that the wedding was beautiful. It was one of the best services I have ever been any kind of part of. John's wife is absolutely beautiful. I had a conversation on Saturday with a member of the wedding party as we walked to our hotel. We talked about how beauty is much more than the physical attraction. Personality and spirit may not weigh as heavy at first encounter, but soon take a larger place in the overall attractiveness of anyone. With that being said...John's wife, Cairy, is absolutely beautiful. As for John...well...just kidding.

Beautiful is the word of the day I guess...the Wedding was beautiful, the church was beautiful... www.lorettochapel.com the bridesmaids were beautiful...wait a minute...did I write that...and the town of Santa Fe is...well...you know...

As for me? Well, you could round my travels out to about 2000 miles, I've slept about 16 hours since Wednesday morning, and although it wouldn't be my first choice in route...I'd do it all again!

Congratulations to John and Cairy Phillips. May their love live as long as the sun, and die the day after eternity.

Oh, and my shamelessness seems to have lost all boundaries. The last minute ticket and the gas money to Houston have really left me a little light in the pocket book. That's why you all should go to www.lonestarmusic.com or www.texaswettnex.com or www.myspace.com/thetexaswettnex and buy a cd. I also have shirts and koozies, which I'll sell you direct. Hit me up at michael@texaswettnex.com or better yet come to the Tavern in the Gruene on Thursday night ( http://www.taverninthegruene.com ) or Riley's Tavern (www.rileystavern.com) on Monday to catch a show and buy some stuff. Even if you don't buy anything, come out and enjoy the music!

No one can ever take music away from me! It's always in my head. My bank account can run dry, my home destroyed, my legs chopped off (that would suck!) but as long as I breathe, there is music in my head! Come hear the music.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

I don't know...

I really don't have a "hot" topic...I just feel like typing I guess.

The Mavericks lost...that sucks...but game 6 is in Big D and I'm thinking that the Spurs are D-U-N. (that's done folks)

I'm headed out to Santa Fe Friday Morning. Going to go watch another one of the guys tie the knot. For those of us who are holding out, the numbers are getting pretty slim. Of the people who I really consider my "best of friends" there are only a couple of us left. With every wedding there is a closing of a chapter of my life (I'm not trying to be selfish here, I should say a closing of a chapter in our lives). The stories that I can no longer tell. When the two Erics went down...that was a couple of good chapters that I had to lock up...but now Johnny B...now our stories were the stuff that they make movies out of.

I'll grow up someday.

What else? Anyone feeling political? What do I think about the National Guard on the borders? I think if I were a citizen of Laredo, Texas I'd sure as hell support this move. They don't even have a police chief down there...no one is stupid enough to take it. If you feel that all is lost, and you just can't make it here anymore...well then get down to Laredo and take a police job...you won't last long.

All the debate...who's right? I can't decide who's right. Do I believe that this is a land of opportunity? Do I believe that my opportunity is being taken by someone who is not a U.S. Citizen? I remember one time when I almost didn't make it back across the border from Mexico because I was too drunk to say U.S. Citizen! Do I believe that if I turn my back on immigrants that I'd be turning my back on Jesus? Do I believe that immigration actually helps the economy? I do believe that I wouldn't dig a ditch for less than minimum wage, and that some people will...and I know that I hate paying taxes, but I think that if I have to, that anyone else who lives in this country should have to as well. I believe that if there was no immigration, that I would not be here today. I don't know what else...

Is President Bush a moron? Well hell no he's not a moron, if he were a moron than he wouldn't be President. If he is indeed a moron, then all of us are morons as well, since we did elect him (twice) to be our President. If you want to try to say that you are not a moron because you didn't vote for him, well guess what, you were then defeated by morons...which makes you lower than the moron...fight that battle if you want to. Do I agree with everything he does? Well hell no. I also don't agree with every decision that my bosses at work make...but they are the bosses.

My conscience tells me to stop, but since when do I listen to that mean bit...

I think the main problem with this war is that people don't understand what war is anymore...we're too busy trying to be gentleman again. You see the movies about the old ways. A bunch of men line up, take turns shooting each other...Gentlemen...bullshit...I'd rather be the police chief down in Laredo! I hear talk of these evil insurgent ambushes and road mines and such. Let me tell you this, I do not side with the insurgents...but I do understand their ways. David did not walk up and trade blows with Goliath...he hit him with a rock from a good distance away. He wasn't a moron! I think that our Shock and Awe strategy was a hell of an idea...right up to the point where we told the media what we were doing. I keep saying we, like I'm a fucking four star general...anyway, Shock and Awe was good...get in there...hit them every which way you can without them ever knowing...and to the victor goes the spoils. Or should I say oil? Your damn right this war has something to do with oil. We are a country hooked on oil like a crazy crack whore, and the middle east is sitting on the stash baby. I'm not saying that its the only reason...

I break to clear my head, not to change subjects...so anyway, we are fighting this war with the press in the front seat of our tanks and humvees. Send big brother home...send the tattle tale down the street home...send the close to the action problem starter home and whip a little ass. I know, I know...it sounds like the barbaric redneck thing to do...well, you're right. We are nuts deep in this war, and there doesn't look to be a miracle way out. I've been around barbaric rednecks my entire life..and there is only one thing that can down a barbaric redneck..and that's a bigger and badder barbaric redneck. Last I heard we were (I keep using this we...I mean America I guess) a superpower. We need to quit looking down at whose toes we might step on, and look up and hit someone in the jaw. Sometimes a little violence (I say a little as in a whole bunch) is the answer to peace. You should reference a Kenny Rogers song (oh shit, did I really just say reference Kenny Rogers?) the coward of the County. Sometimes you have to fight to be a man.

Speaking of songs...I love the new Dixie Chicks song! I love the music, I love the groove, and yes I love the words. I love the message. I don't know the song well enough, but the lyrics go something like - I made my bed and I sleep like a baby - which is one of the greatest lines I've ever heard. So, I'll tell you that I don't agree completely with what Natalie Maines said several years ago...she broke an unspoken rule, but she didn't do it with malice in her heart I don't think. See, as Americans we've all been taught that we have freedom of speech and all that good stuff...but the unspoken rule is that you don't condemn your own quarterback in front of the other team. Surely all of you have been on some kind of team...whether it be football, or debate, or chess or whatever...well you should know that you can talk about whatever you want in your locker room, but you never show any kind of disrespect to your teammates in front of the other team...especially the quarterback! She might have done that...but I am willing to bet that people who condemned her some years back, agree with her now...that is why W. has a pretty dismal job rating polls. This song is beautiful, and its beautiful because its true...and these very talented girls stick to their guns. Its one thing to go out and say something...its another thing to back it all up. I respect that.

Let's talk about something a little less errr.....

Am I really bipolar (I've been asked this alot lately) well...not according to Tom Cruise!

I know there was something else I was wanting to rant about...I just can't remember what it was now. I do love Keystone light.

I got the babies up and moving around tonight...I'm going to post some pictures soon...whenever I get back from Santa Fe...hoping that you can give the little tangs a home.
I hope I haven't offended anyone...actually I don't really care that much...but I do want you to feel free to drop me a line and straighten me out at anytime.

For those of you who like the political topic, you should check out the song, "The Wordsmith" at www.myspace.com/thetexaswettnex I didn't write it, Phillip Foster did, but I am singing it and it takes on a few political issues that some of you might be interested in. Go buy our CD! www.texaswettnex.com

a cada su propio

Saturday, May 06, 2006

in my opinion...

I've been asked several times lately about my opinion on certain "hot" topics in the world today. See I'm at a point in my life where many of you are, or a lot of you have already been. I'm on the ass end of 27, and although I'm still holding on to my rock-star dreams, I am beginning to pay a little more attention on the world outside mine.

I guess you would call this an exciting time in life...but I'm not sure that's exactly how I want to put it. It's definitely a time full of change and growth. This is the time (or maybe I'm a little behind) where you start to question. You start to question your beliefs and the beliefs of others. It's a time where you start to want to be more involved or at least more understanding of the things that drive your world.

So I'm going through this now...especially with politics and the moral issues that are constantly being ground down by the news media. So I guess this is why some people who are going through the same as me want to know my thoughts.

Personally I don't know why anyone would want to know, considering its 5:30 in the morning and I just finished my first beer of the day. Ha ha, its not exactly like that...you see I'm cooking a brisket for a little get together today and there is a law in Texas where its highly illegal to cook any kind of food in a bbq pit without having alcohol in your system. I don't know exactly where it is in the papers, but it's close to the top. Its also almost impossible to get a good fire going in the smoke box without holding an open container. I don't know why it is; it's just the way. To further lessen the value of my opinion, you should know that for the last hour I've been standing out in my back yard in shorts (no shirt) and a pair of boots trying to get my fire right. Its been raining cats and dogs for the last few hours...turns out that lightning can light up the whole world and likes to do so when you're standing in your back yard in shorts and a pair of boots while there are cars driving by.

Back to my opinion.

In my mind it's really hard to form a good opinion. I don't mean good as in right or wrong, but more just one that is based on all the correct information. When you're talking about political issues, it's hard just to go find facts and then form an opinion on them. The "facts" that you are getting through newspapers, or TV, or web pages, are really nothing more than the opinions of the entity and the person that is shares it with you. I try to take all that into consideration when forming any kind of opinion on almost anything.

Disclaimer: these opinions may change at any moment...whether it be up swing, or down swing, or just a change in wind direction. That's the great thing about opinions, is that they are not set in stone.

First the Moussaoui sentencing. I think that the right thing was done by not giving him the death penalty. Now don't get me wrong, the man deserves to die. They should have just brought him down here to Texas for the hearing. I'd have had it all over in a few minutes...I'd have tied him to a good strong horse and pulled his ass through a cactus patch, and that's what I'd do while I was deciding on a good sentence for him. To steal a line from an old Pace Picante commercial, "Partner, get a rope!" But that is what you do out of anger and loathing.

The thing about being confined is that you have nothing but time to think. Thinking is one of the most beautiful and one of the most agonizing things that a human does. Now this man is going to have years to be distressed by his own mind. He's going to question himself, his beliefs, his motives, and most importantly his demise. He's going to have time to sit and think...and when you're at the bottom, sitting and thinking can be very very painful.

This is of course not counting that we might just say he's in a prison in Colorado somewhere, and we take him to a desert in Arizona and beat the shit out of him and leave him for the buzzards.

I also have an opinion on this guys mother...she's mad at France for not taking up for her son. She's playing the race card, and saying that it is his color and beliefs that he was sentenced on and not his actions. Well the man stood up in court and mocked the dying voices of people who were innocently killed...she should visit Arizona as well. I'm all for punishing people according to the crime they commit...I say strap him to the front of an airplane and crash it into something...No, I say let this guy drive himself crazy. The jury did right...killing this man would never punish him for the crimes that he has committed, or the ones that he wanted to commit...make this man live...make him live where he is nothing, has nothing, and will never have nothing...nothing but his thoughts that will forsake him.

I'm going to stop there...I need to go check my fire...and its too early to give you my take on immigration...my heart and mind disagree so I need to work that out. Plus it's early and I might drink one more beer and then take a little cat nap.

Good Morning!

p.s. when cooking brisket and writing blogs at the same time, you should be very careful not to cut up Jalepenos and then touch your lips and eyes while proofreading...BEER ME!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Here Kitty Kitty...

Here Kitty Kitty...
A few months back a friend of mine came down to San Marcos and we were out at Lake Dunlap in New Braunfels having a few beers and drownding a couple of minnows at a friends house. There really hasn't been much winter here in Texas, so it was at a point where it felt really great outside and I had been leaving the back door open to let the cool, fresh air in. So we get back to my house that night and my buddy looks into my room and asks me, "Hey, when did you get a
cat?"

I didn't have a cat.

"I don't have a cat!" but there it was...rolled up in a little ball in the middle of my bed.
The funny thing here was that I had been joking to my roommate that I was going to get a cat. So, since this cat was in the house I decided not to kick it out and tell him that we got one. The joke went on for a couple days and then it was time to get rid of the cat.

"Out of the house you cat!" as I tossed her out the back door, but she just kept hanging around and kept hanging around. She was so skinny and I started feeling sorry for her, so one night I fed her some tuna at the very back of the yard. This was not going to be an inside cat. I gave her some water outside, and eventually started feeding her in the little store room outside.

Occasionally I would let her in the house...she's super affectionate and really a pretty good kitty, as far as good kitties go, and she somehow even ended up sleeping in my bed on cold nights.

This had to stop! I didn't want this cat sleeping in my bed or my house, but evidently I'm one of those "nice drunks" who would let her in on the nights I decided to have a few.

Once she got named I should have known it was over...her name is Poon Tang most of the time...sometimes she gets called Ms. Kitty...and now she gets called...I'll get right back to that.

So anyway, Poon Tang starts to gain a little weight. She looks like more than a thin little sack of kitty bones. So much weight that I decided Ms. Kitty has been "catting around". She never really got super huge like I've seen cats get, so I couldn't ever tell if my assumption was entirely correct.

The other day, after being out of town on a business trip, I notice the cat has lost a lot of weight. I also notice that she is meowing a lot more (something she never did before) and the big kicker was that she sometimes had a problem being indoors. She never had that problem. I put two and two together and went snooping for the litter.

Well I found them....out in a box in the little storage shed lay two little Poon Tangs...they look just like her and the sneaky neighborhood cat that makes his way around my little part of town.

Crap!

I decided that the kittens had a pretty good set up out in the shed. There were protected, they had a good box, they were high enough off the ground not to be prey to something that couldn't climb, and Ms. Kitty was pretty good about sticking around them.

"If they make it, they make it.", I tell myself and I go back in the house. I wasn't trying to be cruel, but I just can't have all these cats in my house.

Then one day at lunch I came home and left the back door open for a while. I notice something out of the corner of my eye..."SMUGGLER!"...yep, Ms. Kitty was smuggling in one of her little ones. I chased her into a corner...looked pretty funny me chasing the cat that is carrying a kitten in her mouth. She put the kitten down and then went into a defensive ball around it...Son-of-a...well, I don't know what came over me...but I started to worry about that other kitten outside. I went out there to check on it...thought maybe it was dead and that's why she abandoned it. I took a look, and it was fine. So I figured that I might as well bring it in too...didn't want to leave it out there. I turned around and Poon Tang stood there, she must've known I was after the other one. She kind of got defensive, so I put the little kitten down and let her bring it into the house too. I guess I just wanted to make her feel like she was the protector.

The cats now sleep in a corner of my room on an old bed sheet. They've just started to open their eyes, but are not very mobile. Momma Kitty (which is her newest name) stays with them most of the time, but she will leave to roam every now and again.

As for me, I'm just a sucker sometimes...but I swear...when they get big enough to leave Momma Kitty...they're gone. So if any of you would like to make a nice home for some very cute little kittens (and Poon Tang too!) then let me know. They're free to a good home!

I need a hobby or something! Oh yeah, I've got one...www.texaswettnex.com...

Oil and stuff

So last weekend I made a little venture north to see my brother Sam, if there are any of you looking for a home up around Ft. Worth, you should look him up at http://www.itsclosingtime.com/.

So anyway I was headed up there...was a little low in the tank...and had to fill up. Now there is a spot on the 35 Corridor just south of Waco that always has cheaper gas than most. I saw the $2.79 a gallon here in San Marcos and thought Hey, its gotta be a bit cheaper there. So I put 30 bucks in my tank and headed north. Got to my spot, and it was $2.85. Shit! So I kept a truckin. I was sure that it would get cheaper as I went. Well, I made it to North Cow Town and the gas was at $2.95 Shit! and I was out of gas. I had to put another 30 bucks in and this time I got less.

Now I had this whole spill all thought out, but I'm now worked up and I need to make my point.

Most of you have seen that oil companies are making record profits and taking over as the top companies in the world. They pushed out Wal-Mart...give me a breakWal-Mart? I hate the things behind Wal-Mart almost as much as I do the things behind the record oil profits (or I used to) but how does an oil company bump Wal-Mart? You can buy everything at Wal-Mart...everything! You can buy low margin items, you can buy high margin items, you can buy beer, baby wipes, jewelry, medicine, food, clothes...and on and on...and at your nearest Exxon you buy gas and a free car wash!

As we talk of things I hate, well I hate politics, but I now say that you need to contact the dirty bastards. You need to find out who your representative is and you need to call him. You need to tell him (or her, sorry) that you are unhappy with what is going on. You need to tell him that you vote. You need to tell him that you vote based on things that are going on in your world. You need to tell him that unless he and his peers dont start to really begin to take on these matters of gas prices, that you will find someone who will. If you are too damn lazy to find out whom your rep is, you send me a message and I will do it for you. These people work for you...they don't always have your best interest in mind, but they take that office making you believe that they do. You need to tell them that they need to make you believe!

I know that all of you get e-mails and coffee shop (or bar) conversation about how to stand up to the oil companies. Well I'm telling you how to do it the best way. No one will ever really boycott Conoco completely. We need gas and they know that. But we can hit them in a place where they must comply. When a National League baseball team is tied in the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded and two outs, and there Ace pitcher is up to bat...they don't leave that pitcher in...they put the best hitter they have available up there. The best hitters we have are our state and national representativesand we need to pencil them in.

When the gas prices drop to $2.50, well all be happy again...and we shouldn't. We need to refuse to be happy until what is right again, is right again.
Thats it...I'm tired of thinking about this.