it’s september 11th. that thought has been in the back of my head all day today.
it started this morning on my drive to school. i still listen to the same radio station that i did eight years ago. i vividly remember listening the morning of september 11, 2001. that morning, as i drove from denton to dallas, stuck in traffic and very upset, they were my tether to the normal world--the world i would never see again. this morning that same radio show played a tribute that featured some of the audio from that morning so long ago. i teared up.
on campus, a few colleagues and i took a few moments to remember the day. we discussed where we were when we got the news and that, for our young students, that may be the only day in their lives so far where they remember exactly where they were.
in class it happened again. it seems that my september 11th experience has always revolved around the classroom. it’s where i was when i got the news, and it’s where i’ve been every year since.
later with my friends in a semi-crowded theater, we watched a movie that started with a plane crash. again i was reminded of the date.
i’m not saying anything significant by stating that i don’t think i’ll ever have a september 11th where i don’t have these thoughts in the back of my mind. and i think that’s a good thing.
remembering that day makes me appreciate the little things more. running through the rain on a warm summer night, the smell of coffee brewing in the morning, the feeling of finding a perfect new book. all of these insignificant things seem more vivid today.
why is it so easy to forget how lucky we have it? to take pleasure in the simple things?
i don’t know the answers to those questions, but i do know that at least today, september 11th, i do a better job of appreciating the small things.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
i hate banks.
and bankers. and everyone having to do with banks and bankers. they all suck. every last one of them.
the closing on my dad's family home looks like it's been delayed again because the buyer's bank it too f-ing stupid to figure the paperwork out.
we are SOOOOOOOOOO tired of dealing with all the real estate/legal hoopla that is going into this sale. we've been under contract since the beginning of july and were supposed to close fifteen days after the contract date. it's september now. that's way more than fifteen days.
for the love of god, i hope it ends soon (like sometime this week)!
so there you have it. bankers suck.
the closing on my dad's family home looks like it's been delayed again because the buyer's bank it too f-ing stupid to figure the paperwork out.
we are SOOOOOOOOOO tired of dealing with all the real estate/legal hoopla that is going into this sale. we've been under contract since the beginning of july and were supposed to close fifteen days after the contract date. it's september now. that's way more than fifteen days.
for the love of god, i hope it ends soon (like sometime this week)!
so there you have it. bankers suck.
Friday, August 28, 2009
the funniest thing i've encountered this week...
*Random thoughts from people our age...*
1. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
2. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
3. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
4. I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
5. Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
6. That's enough, Nickelback.
7. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when Iwas younger.
8. Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?
9. Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
11. There is a great need for a sarcasm font.
12. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.
13. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
14. How the he** are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
15. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
16. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
17. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
18. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
19. Was learning cursive really necessary?
20. Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
21. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
22. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
23. My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads.Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us."Classy, bro.
24. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a di*k from cutting in at the front. Stay strong,brothers!
27. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
28. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
29. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road andinstinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
30. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
31. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
32. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
33. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
34. I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with anugly woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."
35. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
36. Bad decisions make good stories
37. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind ifI do!
38. Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
39. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
40. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has togo around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
41. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
42. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
43. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
44. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
45. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
46. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
47. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
48. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
49. When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
50. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
51. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
52. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
53. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
54. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
55. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
56. Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
57. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my a*s everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
58. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
59. It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
60. I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
61. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
62. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
63. The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag,saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner
enjoy!
1. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
2. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
3. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
4. I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
5. Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
6. That's enough, Nickelback.
7. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when Iwas younger.
8. Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?
9. Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
11. There is a great need for a sarcasm font.
12. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.
13. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
14. How the he** are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
15. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
16. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
17. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
18. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
19. Was learning cursive really necessary?
20. Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".
21. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
22. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
23. My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads.Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us."Classy, bro.
24. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".
25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a di*k from cutting in at the front. Stay strong,brothers!
27. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
28. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
29. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road andinstinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
30. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
31. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
32. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
33. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
34. I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with anugly woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."
35. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
36. Bad decisions make good stories
37. Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind ifI do!
38. Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
39. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
40. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has togo around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....
41. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
42. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
43. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
44. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
45. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
46. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'
47. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
48. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
49. When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
50. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
51. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
52. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers,but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
53. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
54. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
55. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
56. Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
57. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my a*s everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
58. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
59. It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
60. I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
61. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
62. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
63. The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag,saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner
enjoy!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
the very sad state of things.
i was surfing the web this evening when i stumbled upon this little gem:
in case, it's not clear, the link reads "whose hair is a 'do' & who's is a 'dud'?"
all i have to say is WOW. how does one go about getting it right in the first half of the sentence only to screw up so royally in the second? WOW.
in case, it's not clear, the link reads "whose hair is a 'do' & who's is a 'dud'?"all i have to say is WOW. how does one go about getting it right in the first half of the sentence only to screw up so royally in the second? WOW.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
raccoon watch day three: the drama continues
it's day three, and our little buddy is still around. yesterday we found him in the same tree as the day before. we consulted a raccoon rescue organization, and they gave us tons of helpful information about him.
he's about three months old and apparently has been separated from his mother. most likely she was trapped or run over, leaving this little guy an orphan. he's been out in the day because he's too young to effectively catch little mice, so he's hungry and foraging for anything he can find. it's like a freaking disney movie really. and my dad's cruella deville.
we decided to go ahead and purchase a humane trap (since it seems that we have a lot of woodland critters in our neighborhood) to try to catch him and release him to a better, more raccoon-friendly area.
we didn't catch him last night. this morning, he was nowhere to be found, so we assumed he'd be back today. sure enough, we were right.
about 3pm we looked out the window and saw this:
a little raccoon head peeping out of the empty squirrel feeder. we moved the trap and loaded it with raccoon-pleasing food items: apples, corn, tuna, peanuts. he took an immediate interest, but made no show to move:
finally, as i was composing an earlier draft of this post, he began to make a run for it. i can only assume that his empty belly eventually led him to get past his fear of my dogs and cruella.
the cage worked appropriately and trapped him very quietly and safely. he proceeded to chow down on all the goodies.
my parents loaded him in the car and took him a little ways down the road to live in a forested area near a brook. just to make sure he had plenty to eat, i made them take some of the squirrel food he was so found of and spread it around where they released him.
i hope he'll be happy and healthy there for the rest of his little raccoon life.
he's about three months old and apparently has been separated from his mother. most likely she was trapped or run over, leaving this little guy an orphan. he's been out in the day because he's too young to effectively catch little mice, so he's hungry and foraging for anything he can find. it's like a freaking disney movie really. and my dad's cruella deville.
we decided to go ahead and purchase a humane trap (since it seems that we have a lot of woodland critters in our neighborhood) to try to catch him and release him to a better, more raccoon-friendly area.we didn't catch him last night. this morning, he was nowhere to be found, so we assumed he'd be back today. sure enough, we were right.
about 3pm we looked out the window and saw this:
a little raccoon head peeping out of the empty squirrel feeder. we moved the trap and loaded it with raccoon-pleasing food items: apples, corn, tuna, peanuts. he took an immediate interest, but made no show to move:
finally, as i was composing an earlier draft of this post, he began to make a run for it. i can only assume that his empty belly eventually led him to get past his fear of my dogs and cruella.the cage worked appropriately and trapped him very quietly and safely. he proceeded to chow down on all the goodies.
my parents loaded him in the car and took him a little ways down the road to live in a forested area near a brook. just to make sure he had plenty to eat, i made them take some of the squirrel food he was so found of and spread it around where they released him.i hope he'll be happy and healthy there for the rest of his little raccoon life.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
there's a what?! where?!
setting: yesterday afternoon, around 4PM
happenings: the dogs see a squirrel (or three) outside, so we let them out. thirty seconds later they are raising hell at the tree in the corner of our yard. this is not beyond their usual "SQUIRREL!-SQUIRREL!-let-me-out-let-me-out-oh-my-god-there's-a-squirrel-i-must-eat-him-or-see-him-destroyed" behavior, but something was a little off.
we looked outside. this is what we saw:
there was a dark spot that's not usually there. we got a little closer:
wait a second, that's not a squirrel. it looks like...no...i couldn't be. closer still:
it is. a freaking raccoon in my tree. he was in the yard and the dogs must have scared him, so he ran up a tree. having never actually seen a raccoon in person before, i was curious. i walked up to the tree and snapped a couple of pictures. he was little, obviously a young raccoon, and he looked terrified.
after consulting with each other and the local animal control office, we decided to remove the squirrel and bird feeders from the back yard, keep the dogs in the house, and let the little guy go about his business. in the hopes of enticing him down, i smeared some peanut butter on some bread and gingerly placed it on the fence. he took a definite interest, but did not come down.
a few hours later, we watched as he crawled down.
UPDATE: as i was typing this, the dogs started screeching at the back door. our little buddy is back again. and in the same tree.
anyone know how to raccoon proof your yard?
happenings: the dogs see a squirrel (or three) outside, so we let them out. thirty seconds later they are raising hell at the tree in the corner of our yard. this is not beyond their usual "SQUIRREL!-SQUIRREL!-let-me-out-let-me-out-oh-my-god-there's-a-squirrel-i-must-eat-him-or-see-him-destroyed" behavior, but something was a little off.
we looked outside. this is what we saw:
there was a dark spot that's not usually there. we got a little closer:
wait a second, that's not a squirrel. it looks like...no...i couldn't be. closer still:
it is. a freaking raccoon in my tree. he was in the yard and the dogs must have scared him, so he ran up a tree. having never actually seen a raccoon in person before, i was curious. i walked up to the tree and snapped a couple of pictures. he was little, obviously a young raccoon, and he looked terrified.
after consulting with each other and the local animal control office, we decided to remove the squirrel and bird feeders from the back yard, keep the dogs in the house, and let the little guy go about his business. in the hopes of enticing him down, i smeared some peanut butter on some bread and gingerly placed it on the fence. he took a definite interest, but did not come down.a few hours later, we watched as he crawled down.
UPDATE: as i was typing this, the dogs started screeching at the back door. our little buddy is back again. and in the same tree.anyone know how to raccoon proof your yard?
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