No clever title

Ok... so the rest of the weekend was fun / leisurely and darn hot--temperature wise...

On Saturday, we hung out at the sister-un-law's pool for a while and thats about it.

On Sunday we went to brunch at Tin Angel again. I had a delicious quiche but --gasp-- skipped out on the delicious chocolate cake I usually get there.

After brunch, we went to some open houses in the neighborhood. The first place was totally not in our price range (condo units that ranged from $330-570), but I had been anxious to see inside them. They were neat and had cool open floor plans, but there were some small things that didnt appeal to me (some bits of shoddy craftmanship, granite tile on kitchen counters rather than solid granite, etc.) but there were other things that were neat--pool and views of downtown.

We went to another new condo building in the same area that actually had units in our price range. They were nice and neat as well, but didnt have a pool or the downtown view (maybe that's why they were more in our price range, lol).

Our next door neighbor (opposite side than the house that recently sold) also had an open house. It's in our range but was a big no for us... not open enough and just not our style.

Anyway, it's fun to start getting some ideas and going to open houses. We're pretty sure we'll end up in a house, but condo's are still an option. It also helps that we arent in a rush to buy anything and are willing to wait around for a long time rather than settling on something we dont totally love. The good thing about our current place is that the duplex neighbor practically takes care of the mortgage payment. Cha-ching.

Billionaires eat chain food???

... so tonight... we had a hard time deciding where to go for dinner... my requirements were that I didnt have to get too cutesy/trendy and it was within 1 mile from home... so we settled on Bricktops on West End... we've been there a few times... our duplex neighbor is a manager there (I blogged about him giving us a free meal a while back--but unfortunately, he is out of town this week).

It's close to our place... has good food...and an outdoor dining area and is really nice for a chain (it's not like an Applebees or Ruby Tuesday), but it's not too fru-fru. Well, on the way in, we saw Bill Frist's (thank heavens he isnt my US Senator any longer) brother. His brother was a co-founder of a major hospital chain and they are worth well over a billion. Obviously we arent friends and didnt chat...but it was an interesting sidewalk encounter.

Later...we saw Alice Randall. She is the author of--among other things--'The Wind Done Gone.' This parody of "Gone With the Wind" got a lot of media attention... it was told from the perspective of the slaves rather than the Scarlett O'hara & Rhett Butler crowd. She also was the first African-American woman songwriter with a number-one country song. I became familiar with her in college when she was a guest of a journalistic panel I attended. (David Halberstam also was at this..who was a fantastic Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who unfortunately died this year in a car crash around San Franciso).

We also saw a local network weatherman (who I also shared a plane with once on the way home from San Fran) and a prominent gay socialite/philanthropist (he founded Artrageous!).

Who the hell else did we miss in the dining room???

Bottom line is... who would've thought that these people you see in the society pages on a regular basis were at the same chain (small but expanding) that I went to b/c I didnt want to get "dressed up."

hahaha... I guess every know and then, even a billionaire has to mingle with the common folk. I just wished he would've slipped me a few dollar bills. Cheap Ass!

Bleep you too, hussy!

It's been a mostly mundane work week... but the commute the past two days has been an experience.

I'm the first to admit I am an aggressive driver... I hate most other drivers... BUT... on the flip side... I know when I'm wrong and make a bad driving move.

I've managed to piss the hell out of two people though this week... on my way home yesterday evening and again on my way in today. I'll spare the complete details...but yesterday...a lady in a mini-van got soooo mad at me b/c I was merging lanes and made some crazy hand gestures like I was impeding her progress (it was 5:45 on one of the busiest junctions in town... gf wasnt going anywhere quickly)... I ALMOST NEVER do this... but str8 up gave her the bird...

well...this morning... on the way in... some other lady in my office park got mad b/c I also merged again (totally not being dangerous... I'd admit if I were wrong... I have been before)... but... she laid on her horn like something crazy... well, we finally got to a red-light...she was behind me...and I gave her my usual response (not the bird)... I turned around and blew her a kiss... I highly suggest you try this tactic... OMG... this drove her crazy... she tooted like a mad man again (mind you...we were sitting at a damn red-light)... Finally we moved on...and bitch turned off to go to Starbucks... dont mess with a guy/gal who is on the way to Starbucks at 8:30am... I guess there should be a special traffic lane for people who cant function without overpriced coffee... I dont understand... you only end up crashing off your caffeine rush later.

Moral of the story... be a courteous, cautious driver at all times... but if someone gets really mad at you and you were in the wrong... give an apologetic wave... if you were totally in the right... blow a kiss... I've done it several times and it DRIVES people even more crazy. I get pleasure from it.

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash...

We finally watched "Walk the Line" tonight. It's been on our dvr since October '06, oops.

I really enjoyed the movie. Semi-autobiographical films like that are always interesting. I came around pretty late as a Cash fan. My parents didnt really listen to country music (when I was younger at least), so I never really heard his music for the most part until I was in college. The acting & singing were good in my opinion (and Oscar voters apparently). I'm a bit biased, but I will disclose that I think "Coal Miners Daughter" was better than WTL.

"Coal Miners Daughter" just seemed to be a bit more detailed than WTL even though they were both equal in length. Funny side story on what drew me to Loretta (since I didnt grow up on her music either)... was the CMD movie. When I got a step-mother, she happened to have the video... I watched it at some point soon after...and then proceeded to wear it out.

Surprisingly, Hal got me the DVD for Christmas a few years ago. One of the best gifts EVER! :)

After seeing Loretta back in February, I casually mentioned the trip to my aunt. She said... I always think of you when I hear about Loretta... I had totally forgotten how much I had blabbered on and on about LL until she mentioned that.

Anyway, if you havent seen "Walk the Line," you should. I'm still bummed that their house burned earlier this year :( I saw it once while we were out on the lake and it was definitely unique.

Tammy Faye

I blogged about her briefly after seeing the Larry King Live appearance Thursday...but on Saturday, I was still sad to hear that she had died. I'm sure she is in a better place.

The NPR show Fresh Air reminded me of this interview today... if you have time, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12169778... (it's a little less than 10 minutes). If you want to delve further, there are more indepth and side interviews about her.

While I still disagree with Tammy about the "gay lifestyle," I still appreciate her approachability (is that a word?).

Rush, Rush... hurry, hurry

I freaking love Paula Abdul... crazy, drunk/drugged...who cares?...She's very entertaining. I've been a fan since back in the days when I saw cheerleaders at my school do halftime routines to her song... nice... lol

We were at the grocery tonight...and her song Rush came on... I havent heard that in a long time...and was so distracted that I couldnt concentrate on what I needed until the song was over. My apologies if I held up you up in the aisle with my cart while I was lip singing (get off my back, even Brittney & Madonna do it). Sometimes, you just gotta stop and smell the roses. I almost said the Paula...but that doesnt sound nice.

Anyway, my weekend was delightful. Waking up from the Friday night celebratory dinner was relatively easy... I did some b.s. errands...

and later in the evening...we went Bowling! I'm not so good at it, but it is something I enjoy a few times a year. I got progressively worse... starting out with a score in the 120's...and dropping on average 20 points the next two games. It's all about fun anyway, right???

Nothing too remarkable the rest of the weekend... we chilled out at my sister-un-law's pool on Sunday (get it, gay marriage isnt lawful?)... that's always fun...and enjoyed one of my favorite summer reality shows... Big Brother...it's crazy how addictive that show is to me...but I'm easy :)

Drumroll please....

We went out for a celebratory dinner at Parco Cafe last night with Casey (my friend/current manager) & her husband Shane.

What were we celebrating? I accepted an offer on a new position at my company this week! Due to corporate red tape, it will be about a month before I change roles, but I'm going to be a Technical Trainer in our Education group. It's going to be a big change for me, but I'm so excited. I'll be training our customers how to use our software. My educational experience and preference is to be in a more direct face to face interaction with people, so this position is a good fit for me.

Another big change with this position is that I'll be traveling up to 60%, so it's a bit of a lifestyle change. Probably more often than not, I'll be in a not so glamorous city, but you can guarantee I'll keep you posted either way here.

It seriously was a month before I learned about the open position from the time I accepted. I was dying to blog about it, but wanted to keep it quiet in case it didnt go favorably. There was one weekend that I was a nervous wreck...seriously, like the worst stomach cramps / anxiety over a presentation I had to do. Funny enough, I wasnt nervous the actual day I did the presentation, but the anticipation was killing me.

Anyway, I'm super excited... it's definitely a positive step in my professional development. Goodbye to helping clients with problems with servers and quirky software issues... I freaking hated that the whole time anyway.

You know you are in Brentwood when...

you see a baby with a bib that says "Wee Publican."

I seriously saw that today at lunch. No wonder that damn baby was crying.

People we still need around...

Tammy Faye (Baker) Messner has long been a fascinating and inspirational personality in my opinion. Her life has been amazing and interesting at the same time.

Of course, I think that anyone swindled by her husband (and likely her) with the whole PTL scandal is an unfortunate circumstance. Did she know that her husband was such a dirtbag? Most likely...

However, I'm so sad to see that she is reaching the end of her life here. If you havent seen the documentary, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," I suggest you watch it. I'm typically skeptical of televangelist types, but for some reason, I feel like she has always mostly been genuine.

If you saw the recent clip of her on Larry King Live, you'll know what Im talking about... bless her heart. Cancer sucks.

Random photo

So, I've decided to start posting some random pics on my blog of people I love hanging out with... and who happen to be with me when a camera is around.

I'll start this trend with a pic of me and my favorite San Francisco--soon to be Philadelphia--bitch...Josh. This picture was taken in Kansas City when we saw Loretta.

BTW... Josh has recently started blogging again so check out his blog that is listed in my links.

Keeping the faith!

So, you all know I'm a H-U-G-E fan of the Nashville Predators. This post-season has been a roller coaster ride to say the least.

A coworker/fellow fan recently said..."I didnt think it could get any worse than being eliminated from the first round of the playoffs again" but boy were we surprised a few weeks later to learn that the team was being sold to the Blackberry billionaire who had plans to move the team. Well, that seemingly didnt work out, and then they were going to be sold to someone who possibly would move them to Kansas City... sigh.... well, then we learned that a local group of investors wanted to purchase the team and obviously keep them here....

Well, by all accounts at this point, it's very likely that the local group of investors can actually purchase the team. There was a huge rally/season ticket drive today at the arena that got a lot of positive media coverage and is a big step forward in showing that Nashville actually IS a hockey town after all.

Someone asked me yesterday if I would be attending the rally...well, no... I wouldnt and didnt... for two reasons: a) the main part of the rally was at 6pm and I barely get home by that time and b) I dont intend on buying season tickets.

Dont get me wrong, we went to approximately 25-30 of 42 home games last season. The sticking point is we get free tickets often (Hal's company or similar contacts)... but we also arent scared to shell out close to $200 for a pair of tickets when necessary (this bitch doesn't sit in the nosebleed section, ok?).

Additionally, I cant get season tickets this year b/c I might not be able to use a good bit of them (this is affected by my pending announcement) and I really am not in the position to be buying tickets and donating the ones I cant use to charity--although I hope to be someday.

There's really no major point to this post other than to say that I am feeling more positive about the local deal after this rally and the fact that the local group met with the NHL commish yesterday. A lot of people may poo poo my love for the Preds as a "so what" type thing, but it's amazing how much I've grown to love this sport and team over the past few years. It's really hard for me to describe.

Long live the PREDATORS!!!!!

Something is brewing...

and it ain't beer.... I've got some good news to share with you blog readers... but not just yet...

I frigging have had a month of dealing with this... and it's finally come to a conclusion...

Stay tuned... I waited a month, people, you can wait a few days.

Pa... Pa... I cant see...

Little House on the Prairie is one of my favorite tv shows EVER. Twenty-three years after the citizens of Walnut Grove left us, I still catch the reruns anytime I can.

I was thrilled to catch the last 30 minutes of the final episode tonight. I've often discussed this with others (who doesnt talk to their friends about LHotP???) who dont remember the final episode, but it's a good one, I assure you.

See, it turns out, some shister comes into town and produces a deed proving that he owns Walnut Grove--and several other surrounding towns--and he's kicking them all out. Well, always a Phoenix, the citizenry doesnt take to that very kindly and take matters into their own hands. What would any sensible person do? They freaking blow up most of the buildings in town.

It is a fantastic and brilliant episode... the shister may own the land, but he doesnt own the buildings. It's actually emotional seeing the Mercantile and other buildings destroyed one by one. They dont blow up the church/school or the Ingalls farm, but in the end, Walnut Grove made a difference. All the other towns facing the same dilemna vowed to do the same thing, effectively putting a damper in Mr. Shisters plans.

And the series comes to a close with the residents of WG marching off singing "Onward Christian Soldiers." And I usually end up with a tear in my eyes... long live Little House.

That's All....

Another weekend is behind us now unfortunately... I was so happy that Friday had rolled around... I was a bit over working on Friday and so glad to finally get home. I was excited to see that "The Devil Wears Prada" was coming on HBO... I saw it at the movies back in the day but it was cute to see it again.

I had a really lazy day on Saturday and pretty much didnt do anything. I've been wanting to see the movie "Saved" for a while...I think it has been out a few years, but I caught it coming on on Saturday night...unfortunately I only watched an hour of it before falling asleep (at 1am I couldnt keep my eyes open)... so I'll have to be on the lookout for it again.

On Sunday, we went to Richards pool which is always fun. Having a pool at your house would be so convenient and fun.

I cant think of anything else planned in the upcoming weeks, but hopefully I'll find something half entertaining to blog about.

Meow....

I freaking love cats... but havent had one in a few years...a lot of people know this, but we had two bad experiences in a row...and took a hiatus with the cats... and there are no current plans for a replacement.

I've been looking at this website regularly for the past few months though... it makes me laugh... you may find the captions annoying at times, but I've come around to them... the pictures alone are worth a glance.

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

A Seinfeld blog...

Ok, I seriously dont have much of anything to blog about last weekend.

It definitely made the end of the week go by quickly after having the holiday break though--always a good thing.

I'm almost horrified that I didnt have a Symphony night for a 3rd consecutive weekend...haha... j/k...sorta :)

As my entertainment replacement, I did catch a few late night episodes of Golden Girls---which I NEVER grow tired of... and another night I caught Good Times ... I love love love that show too... obviously I've only ever caught it in reruns, but I remember watching it as a kid. I havent caught a Janet Jackson era of GT in quite a while though... I'll have to keep watching Nick at Nite.

I had a bit of an extended weekend... I had a sick day on Monday... I stayed inside most of the day... and caught up on some magazines... I subscribe to about 5 magazines...and tend to flip thru pictures the first day I get one...and then they sit in a pile waiting for a few weeks/months.

That's enough of my blog about nothing... I hope to have something more exciting to tell you possibly next week... or sooner, so keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned...

Almost a fightin' Fourth...

It was really nice to have a mid-week holiday break with July 4th.

Tuesday night we had every intention on going to dinner at Parco Cafe (I blogged about this deliciousness a while back), but unfortunately the owners are out of the country for now..boo

So we went to Mambu instead. It was a nice night to dine outside. It was good... my dish wasnt my favorite meal ever, but it was nice to try at any rate... It was a special for the night.. pork (which was good)... served with sauteed turnip greens (which even as a real southerner I had never tried)... they were interesting and better than I expected. I forget what else came with my dish...some type of bean type things that werent really my cup o' tea... I would recommend trying it sometime though...and I'd go back.

So then it was July 4th. We chilled out with during the day with some pals at a pool party at Richard & Patricks... fun fun fun... After heading home for a nap and recharge, we headed to a spot closer to downtown to view the fireworks--away from the riverfront crowd of around 100K.

We were lucky enough to find a spot across the interstate with a fabulous view of the supposed "World's Largest Adult Book/Video Store." You know we only roll in class, right? Well, there were quite a few other people around to...

We stayed in the car for a while... and within about 10 minutes, I heard something confrontational seeminlgy directed my way... apparently some drunk (yeah, he had a big 40 in his hand) thought I threw an empty soda bottle at him... I just looked at him in disbelief and finally a pal of his fessed up to it... he simmered down and then later came over and ask if I had a beer to sell him... see... we surround ourself with class too!!!

Oh, I have to mention this... Hal 'didnt hear what was going on' as usual even though he was sitting right next to me in the car... some help, right? Kinda like when that man pulled behind me in my driveway and after some other stupid stuff... called me a 'little faggot' and then peeled out... Where was Hal? Standing at the inside of the front door... apparently not concerned if I was about to get bashed... (I dont mind giving him crap on this blog... I remind him of this face to face as well) :)

So that is the holiday wrap up... I'm so glad it is the weekend again!!!

The hills are alive....

So here we are again... It's Monday again... time to tell you about last week... It was one of my most dreaded times to work... once every other month or so, I have to work 11am-8pm...It totally disrupts my swim schedule (the pool closes at 8 and if you know me at all... you know I'm not getting up early) ...the good news is that someone volunteered to work that shift on Friday... so I was able to go to a fun wine gathering.

I ended up being the DD for Hal and another couple... yeah, that's not something you hear of me doing often... it's not my favorite role, but it's not so bad sometimes. We got home relatively early and once Hal almost immediately went to "sleep," I was able to kick back and enjoy watching my stupid tv shows.

I get so caught up in House Hunters on HGTV... particularly the international versions. One episode featured Stockholm, Sweden... the prices werent as outrageous as I expected, but wow... the places were so small... (as I've noticed on several of the international versions). The other interesting thing is the bathrooms in these places... literally, the whole bathroom was the shower... it just has a drain in the middle of the floor... it was barely big enough to turn around in.

Not sure why I felt the need to blog about that, but it interests me. It's amazing how efficient you can be in such a small living space.

On Saturday, we hung out by the pool... and just as we were getting ready to come back home, I got a last minute chance to go to another Symphony event (hence the Sound of Music reference). It worked out well b/c I didnt have any other plans while Hal was going to play poker. Check out Nathan's blog http://www.thisonegoestoeleven.com/ for a good rundown of the evening and a couple of photos. I couldnt have said it any better. Prior to late May, I'd never been to a Symphony event, but I've been to 3 now in the last month. Each performance was totally different but all fun nonetheless.

To cap the weekend off, we went to brunch at Tin Angel yesterday... It's really good, close to our house and it's nice to patronize a locally owned restaurant.

Now I am looking forward to a mid week holiday break already... nothing wrong with that, eh?