Weekend in Review

Saturday's football game was pretty awesome, even though we gave it to Mizzou in the second half. (Grr!) It was very exciting though, especially that last field goal they attempted (and MISSED!) before time ran out. Funny to see everyone standing around wondering if it was over, or if they do overtime or what. Yes they do, as was also evidenced later when we watched triple overtime in the Stanford/USC game! I wish Vanderbilt would have beaten Arkansas, although my Aggie comrades weren't as supportive of that. I love to see Arkansas get beaten, especially by underdogs. Alas! 'Twas not to be.

During the second half of our game, and all the way down the ramps and out of the stadium, to the buses and out to our cars at the parking area, we were ALL discussing what the heck happened to our beloved Aggies that day. They should have stopped using Fuller... It was the offensive coaches' fault... If Tannehill were playing better... Where was the Wrecking Crew... It's just the typical second-half issue...

Dude. If only Coach Sherman could have been there to hear all of our valuable suggestions! The fans could fix things right up. Heh. He must get an earful every week!

We went to the David Cook/Gavin Degraw concert last night, and Carolina Liar opened. I had no idea they would be there. They so rocked!!!

I've been waiting to see David for years, and he was amazing. The guy has a stellar voice. We were commenting that the songs from the new album are sort of blah, but his talent really shines through, despite that. He has an awesome band as well.

And of course Gavin was fantastic! I don't like when bands play almost exclusively songs from their new album, which is what Gavin did. There has to be a mix, I think. I like the new stuff a lot, but there's nothing that compares to an old fave popping up now and then during the set. I like a two-to-one new-to-old ratio. He sang about three old songs total. Still it was an awesome show.

The last time we saw him, it was at The Parish. Of course the stage is much larger at ACL. He really got out from behind the piano and showed us some moves! His sound guy and other crew members were always bouncing to the beat and really into the music during his set. LOVE that.

We got to ACL early enough to get barstools overlooking second street and people-watch for a while before the show, too. Happy to report that no glass fell on us from any highrises the entire time we sat there. ;) It was a fabulous evening!

A couple of my clips from David's set...

Cover of Muse's "Stockholm Syndrome"


"Lie"

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Twitter Ah Ha Moment

I've figured out why I don't do Twitter all that much. My eyes skip over any highlighted word that begins with @ or #. Unless your tweets are like mine- textual updates with very little in the way of tags and referrals- I'm not processing most of your message.

Also, I have no way to "Like" your hilarious and/or informative tweet. I guess the correct manner to acknowledge you is:

LOL/Thanks for the info! RT @you: Funny/informative tweet.

Excess typing and cryptography make me sad, but rest assured, I am laughing at and/or processing your tweet, even though I don't say so. Unless it's full of hashtags and stuff.

Yikes. I'm so uncool.


Saturday 9: Mr. Roboto

1. Do you enjoy holidays like Halloween or is your approach more robotic?
I love Halloween and other holidays like it! I am disappointed when people around me aren't as into it as I am.

2. Have you ever been to a haunted house?
All sorts of haunted houses and other places, including the Halloween ones for fun, a ghost tour in Charleston, and a stay at the Driskill. I have a haunted hay ride story... in high school, a big group of us went to the local huge Baptist Church's hay ride, which ended up with church staff funneling all of us into the main sanctuary and literally locking us in for a sermon. Not. Kidding. There was an adult blocking every closed door to the place. You think WE were pissed? You should have seen our parents when we told them!

3. What are you doing for Halloween this year?
Just giving out candy, since Doug didn't invite me along to Halloween in Dallas tonight. ;)

4. What was your lamest Halloween costume ever?
I worked Halloween at Gallaghers in high school and wore a pin on my dress that said "This IS my costume."

5. Is handing out candy fun for you, or more of a nightmare?
It's usually fun until about 8:00, when the un-costumed teenagers with pillowcases full of candy start showing up. I make them say "Trick-or-treat." You can't half-ass the whole thing.

6. Do you buy trick-or-treat candy and end up eating it yourself?
Never. I buy stuff I don't eat. Leftovers go straight to work with Jeff November 1.

7. Did you carve any pumpkins this year?
Nope. We haven't carved a pumpkin since Lauren was small, when we did it religiously. Aww, I miss that!

8. What was your favorite costume as a child?
No question- Ballerina!!

9. What is your biggest pet peeve about trick-or-treaters?
I don't like the ones who are in cars. The whole point is to walk around your neighborhood or with friends in their neighborhood. I don't want to see your mom creepin' in the running car in the street.

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♪ Skinny Dipping in the Dark ♫

Nothing beats that proud moment of triumph, about the fiftieth time you sing one of those songs that has a challenging set of lyrics and you finally sing all the words correctly. Like "Last Friday Night"-

...Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on tabletops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot
Last Friday night
Yeah we maxed our credit cards
And got kicked out of the bars
So we hit the boulevard
Last Friday night
We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping in the dark
Then had a menage a trois
Last Friday night
Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we're gonna stop 
Whoa-oh-oah
This Friday night...

FISTS IN THE AIR!!!! Wooooooooo!!!!11!!!!!1

Another memorable one... Barenaked Ladies "One Week." We should all have been awarded engraved plaques for getting that one down. So many lyrics coming at you at the speed of light. Gonna make a break and take a fake. I'd like a stinkin' achin' shake. I like vanilla- it's the finest of the flavors.

Now I'm working on Nicki Minaj/Eminem's "Roman’s Revenge." ;)

Remember several days ago, Doug and I toured The Austonian? Well, Wednesday...

Glass falls from Austonian high-rise 

The W, within a block of The Austonian, had a similar glass-falling incident recently. Just stay away from that area. Yikes... we'll be there Sunday night. Alrighty then.

If you are around me much, you've heard me say "Poop on a stick!" as an exceedingly genteel alternative to the F word. If I'm reeeeeally irritated, it's "Poop on a poop stick!" (or the F word). I did a search for something completely unrelated this morning and randomly ended up on The Bloggess' site at an old post titled "Crap on a Crap Cracker." LMAO

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Underwear and Baseball

In Lauren's three-year-olds class at church, the little girls call their underwear "big girl panties," as you might expect. The boys? They call theirs "big boy panties." So cute. I love it!

The World Series game was postponed last night due to rain.

They play football in rain.

Matter-of-fact...



Just saying. ;)

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Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuz

We watched baseball on TV Monday night. That should tell you how little else was on, and how clear our DVR was. There were some exciting moments, but as is typical for baseball on television, to me it was just...

...

...

Yep. At least I was able to play Hanging with Friends while I watched. Or if I had been so inclined, I could have written a complete treatise on "intentional walks."

My main entertainment- yelling "CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ" every time Cruz appeared. Superfun! Oh, and the Rangers have a cute pitcher, so that was nice. At the rate they changed them out, I'm surprised I noticed him at all. Not sure of his name, but he has dark hair and a beard.

Go Rangers! :)

So Lindsay Lohan is posing for Playboy. That makes me throw up in my mouth a little. The woman is a pathetic mess. More than Britney ever was- even in her shaved head days. But if you boys like to ogle naked, slutty, alcoholic, jailbird starlets...

On second thought... Well played, Playboy.

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Eye Candy Tuesday

Joey Fatone retweeted Boyz II Men a few times, and seeing them on my feed, I wondered if I had followed them without remembering. (Would not have surprised me.) Rock on, Boyz II Men. Congrats on the new album and twenty years!

OK, ladies. Why haven't you told me to watch True Blood? Yeah, I see how you people are about the sharing thing. Yesterday I was bowled over by the vision that is Joe Manganiello.

HOLY.  &%#*.

Adorable, right?

And whoa. 

He even seems to have a personality to go with the looks.

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The Two Sickest Films Ever

And not in a good way.

The most disturbing film I'd ever seen was Boxing Helena...

A surgeon becomes obsessed with the seductive woman he once had an affair with. Refusing to accept that she has moved on, he amputates her limbs and holds her captive in his mansion.  

...until Sunday, when we watched something called The Human Centipede...

A mad scientist kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to reassemble them into a new "pet"-- a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each others' rectums.

Let me just tell you, you don't want to be the middle person in that arrangement. I see there is a Human Centipede II and that III is going to be released in 2013. Wow. We can blame this one on the Dutch, but Boxing Helena was a US production, so there's blame to go around on these things.

Rent them and see the train wreck. You can't look away. Plus it's pretty entertaining to heckle them. There's even a fun Human Centipede drinking game!

...6. If someone poos in someone else's mouth you have to pour your drink in the person on your left's mouth, preferably until they chunder...

LOL


Patrick's Saturday Six

1. What canned vegetable do you have the most of in your pantry?
Corn, because twice I bought cans for a recipe and then didn't end up making it. I don't serve canned corn at all, so it will be sitting there until I make this silly recipe... twice.

2. What flavor of salad dressing do you have the most of in your refrigerator?
Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette - THE best

3. Do you prefer butter, margarine or a butter substitute?
I prefer butter, because it's natural, but it's not spreadable, so I usually use tub margarine for spreading.

4. Which kind of cooking oil do you use the most?
canola

5. Take the test: Do You Eat Like a Liberal or a Conservative?
You Eat Like a Conservative
You may or may not be a political conservative, but studies show you sure eat like one. You gravitate toward comfort foods and classics. And you don't waste your time with fancy food trends. You prefer to eat what's tried and true. You get annoyed with people who have hangups about what's healthy. Pass the mac and cheese, meatloaf, fried chicken, and apple pie. Your tastes are all-American as they come! 

6. Not counting water, how many different kinds of drinks are there in your refrigerator?
five- OJ, 2% milk, skim milk, wine, decaf tea

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Pretty Saturday!

Love this... from Facebook this morning...

Saturday 9: The Last DJ

1. Who was your favorite DJ and what radio station did you listen to as a kid?
My favorite DJ as a kid was Casey Kasem. American Top Forty, baby! I listened to Top 40 stations in Houston (can't remember any DJs there, maybe Lori can help me out)... KILT, as a kid. They went country at some point and I switched to KRBE and KKBQ through high school.

2. What has been the weirdest thing you have worn in public?
Summer before sophomore year of high school... John, Cathy and I went to see Grease II. I wore jeans and a t-shirt, with a tied bandana as a belt. John was typically dressed very "80's dance club" and made frequent attempts to coax me into an edgier style. When he came to pick me up that day, he convinced me to double my makeup and add a bunch of wrapped and tied bandanas up and down my legs. I was practically immobile. Cathy almost got a hernia trying not to laugh when she met us at the theater.

3. What was the best part of last weekend?
A&M/Baylor football game at Kyle Field. Whoop!

4. What was the most effective punishment for you as a kid?
Pointing out the natural consequences of my actions, and letting me suffer them. That was far more effective than any spanking or grounding would have been.

5. Would you lie to your significant other to not hurt their feelings?
Not about anything that mattered. 

6. We're taking your order for breakfast. What would you like?
eggs Benedict, fresh fruit, OJ

7. Do you celebrate Halloween? If yes, do tell. If no, why not?
We rarely have or attend a party, but we do celebrate in some way each year.

8. Do you hand out candy to the neighborhood kids?
Yes! So fun!

9. What's the favorite age you've been, so far?
Without associating it with whatever was going on at the time (which would more accurately be "the best year of your life"), I would say 34 is a great age. Old enough to know what you want and have the confidence and experience to go for it, and past the scrimp-and-save years.

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Day at the Museum(s)

Just caught a few minutes of Regis (well, Josh Groban) and Kelly's interview with Orlando Bloom. He was talking about filming The Hobbit in New Zealand. (yay!) Also mentioned the LOTR cast and crew's LOTR tattoos, which each person got on a different part of their body. Wondering where Viggo's is... No, don't Google it for me. Just let me imagine.

Doug and I went to the LBJ Library and Bullock Museum yesterday. Love both places!

ScottK had educated Jeff and me on the history of the "Come and Take It" flag of Gonzales last weekend. It came up because of the A&M/Baylor/SEC thing... can't tell you how we got from one subject to the other, but there you go. So, we were woefully unfamiliar with the story of the cannon, etc. Well, there was a replica flag on display at the Bullock.

Then there were a hundred different souvenirs of that flag in the gift shop. Ha! It's everywhere...

Then we toured The Austonian and a couple of their one-bedroom condos. Well, Doug toured and I was along as the friend who critiques everything. (Where was House Hunters?!) That place is beeeeeeautiful!! Top of the line finishes and materials. Amazing views. Spacious public areas on the top two floors- 55 and 56. It's so impressive.

Then we hung out at the W and had drinks in their ubercool bar. Fun day!


Friday Five

1. What non-food items are in your refrigerator or freezer?
rocket glue in the fridge

2. What non-book items are on your bookshelves?
games, memorabilia, travel souvenirs, clocks

3. What song or album in your music collection doesn’t fit in with your usual tastes?
50 Cent- "Candy Shop"

4. What item in your wardrobe really doesn’t match anything else?
A really flowy, metal-beaded at the waist, translucent, animal print top. I've worn it twice.

5. What scar on your body did you receive in the unlikeliest of ways?
I have a teensy one on my hand from when our cat Ernie bit me years ago.


ETA... I remember how we got from SEC to the Battle of Gonzales. At the game, there was a student with a sign that was an SEC/A&M flag with "Come and Take It" written across it.

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BTW...

Pass it on. Lauren and I want to have shirts made. :) Ryan Swope ROCKS.

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People's Choice Awards Nominee Nominations

The Bloggess has organized a very successful write-in campaign for Wil Wheaton to be a nominee for Favorite TV Guest Star (Big Bang Theory) at the People's Choice Awards website, where they are currently taking votes for 2012.

#OccupyPeoplesChoiceAwards
#wheretheresawiltheresaway
#ItsTheWilofthePeople
#wilwheatonwoulddoitforyou
#WeWilOvercome

Write in Wil Wheaton and vote here!

Then go through the previous categories or choose "Favorite Movie Icon" from the links below that, and vote for George Clooney. You know you want to.

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Telephone Soliciting- Argh

I ranted about telephone solicitors at a party several years ago. It was an animated, soapbox sort of rant, where I may have even used a mild four-letter-word or two. At the end, one of the parents of a friend of my daughter's said, "I'm a telephone solicitor, and..." I thought he was joking, but unfortunately he was not. Love those moments, right?

I was a telemarketer myself for a couple of months when I was 16, selling papers for the Houston Post at a call center. It was a miserable job for me, because all I could think was how flippin' annoying I was. During training, the main rule of the sell was to keep talking and never hang up before the other person did. That insures that they are literally forced to either purchase the newspaper or hang up on you. Most people feel hanging up on someone is rude, so they won't do it. (Never mind that it was rude of me to call you at home to give you a random sales pitch.) Well, I sold a LOT of papers by following that rule.

Almost every phone call we receive on our land line now is a solicitation call. Most are charities. I have a strict no-donate policy for any charity that asks for donations via telephone. Jeff donates to almost all of them, so they continue calling, and will ask for him and not speak to me at all. That would be fine with me, other than Jeff isn't home most of the time the phone is ringing off the wall. The ones that really piss me off are the ones who say, "Hey! Is Jeff around?" like they're some buddy of his. I used to be fooled and talk to them or hand them off to Jeff. No more. Now I don't answer any call that is from someone I don't know.

I've told most of these charities to stop calling, but they don't. They are not subject to the no-call list, so they just keep calling. Totally annoying. I'm talking almost daily calls from two organizations, along with the countless others.

The other large group of calls are from polling companies, who are also not included in the no-call list. Political groups, mostly.

The remainder are companies who shouldn't be calling me at all. To fix that, I would have to file complaints with the FCC, which requires a ton of paperwork and tracking times, dates, names, etc. (I started that process with Strand Brothers, with their completely obnoxious and constant calls the past couple of years. Jeff didn't think their calls were a big deal, so I had him switch our contact number to his cell phone. Now he's fielding their ridiculous calls. Works for me!)

The real answer to the sales and polling calls? I could eliminate the land line, but then I have to give my cell number to businesses. What's more annoying than sales calls at home? Sales calls on my cell. I'm thinking of turning off the ringers to the land line, and having that number go straight to the answering machine. Maybe I'll do exactly that.

So if you are still calling on my land line, please direct all calls to my cell. Or you can leave a message and I'll get back with you!

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Growing Up

In every parent's life, there comes a moment when their 17-nearly-18-year-old child makes an inevitable, utterly palpable and conspicuous move towards independence and adulthood. You may shed a tear of pensive melancholy, proud joy and the shocking realization that reading glasses and a colonoscopy are right around the corner for you. Yesterday was that moment here...

Lauren got her own iTunes account.

Yes. It's true. No more sharing our library. No more individual syncs of two iPhones on my computer. She's got all her own songs and apps on her own computer and her credit card on her account. She loves it! I think one last annoying hiccup during a sync between the new iTunes 10.5 and iOS 4, which she still had, frustrated her into finally making the move. She has been talking about it for a while. Now her stuff is her own.

A funny (mis)step in the process- the first thing I did was copy all the non-DRM music files from our playlist of all "her" songs to a folder on a shared drive. At least that is what I thought I was doing. What I did was copy all the music files from the entire iTunes library to my DESKTOP. 3000 songs. I was toodling along, doing other things while it was copying, and closed one of my windows and saw all the icons splattered across my screen on the desktop. I thought, WTF is happening?!

It was something to see. I did manage to stop it before all the songs were copied.

Anyway, now our iTunes separation is officially done. Awwwwww...

I forgot to mention Monday that Gumbo's has the best calamari ever!! I am a huge fan of calamari, and good fried calamari is pretty difficult to find. It can get rubbery in a New York minute, and there is a whole breading-to-squid ratio that has to be maintained. Gumbo's calamari is cut into huge fried-cheese-stick-sized sticks, rather than the typical skinny circles and legs. (Although legs rock, and are best for freaking out people at the table who won't touch squid with a ten foot pole.) The taste and texture of the calamari itself is to die for. They taste almost like scallops when they are prepared as these thick chunks.

The breading is a thicker consistency than the typically wispy coating of little calamari slices, which matches perfectly with the slabs. Theirs has a fabulous seasoning, providing perfect flavor for the otherwise naturally bland seafood. I convinced the people at the next table to get an order and they ooh-ed and ahh-ed over it as much as we did!

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Real Housewives of NJ Reunion- Part 1

...and other stuff. Goes without saying, but sometimes I throw it in for the newbies.

From Clients From Hell...

http://clientsfromhell.net/post/11484693921/me-so-what-do-you-want-the-website-to-be

Heh.

Kathy and I had lunch at Gumbo's @Bee Cave yesterday. They have a fabulous outside bar area overlooking a pond with ducks and swans and turtles and a giant swimming snake. *shiver* The weather was sunny and cool and gorgeous! Then we shopped at the always-fun outdoor Hill Country Galleria across the street.  (I couldn't get her to go to Ides of March, despite my very enthusiastic pitch.) She got some Christmas shopping done. She's like the old me! The recent me has not even a list going at this point.

The fam watched Real Housewives of NJ reunion show (Part 1) last night. Teresa used to be one of my favorite people on there and now I think she's a pissy, self-centered woman who takes no responsibility for her part in any situation. She glued on a fake smile for the entire last season. It doesn't disappear, even when she's seething about something. It's just plain old creepy.

 "Watch out. I'm about to throw a table at you."

Jacqueline is still my favorite (missed her on the reunion show- :( ). She's got that optimistic outlook and sense-of-humor about stuff. Caroline and her hubby are a great couple and I love to observe how she's dealing with the whole empty-nest thing. Melissa is adorable with her beautiful outfits and is always trying to help Joe mend things with his family. Remember my favorite top of the season?

 
SO CUTE.

You know, my favorite thing about Melissa is actually that she films sometimes without any makeup. It's cool that she doesn't feel she needs that all the time, even for TV.

Kathy is refreshingly "real" with her voice-of-reason observations and her stay-at-home-mom things and struggling with the decision to go back to work.

I guess every Real Housewives series needs their Teresa, to keep things batshit crazy interesting.

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Fantastic Football Day

What a game yesterday!! Best part- when we really pulled ahead and after touchdowns we all started chanting SEC! SEC! SEC! And the crowd reaction when the SEC/A&M commercial played on the big screen. It was perfect. Thanks for trying to block our school from leaving the conference with your legal mumbo-jumbo, Baylor. SEC-ya' later.

And Scott had a great time. Yay! Hope he doesn't accidentally let out a "WHOOP!" at his Amherst/Williams game-watching event next month.


Sunday Stealing: The Questions Galore Meme, Part 2

21. What was the last song you listened to that wasn’t sung in English?
Does Enrique Iglesias' "Bailamos" count? ...te quiero amor mio... If not, then last week I watched an old TV performance of NSYNC's "Yo Te Voy Amar".

22. One of our SS players generally leaves a critical comment on our memes. Which is fine. All's fair. Do you let meme authors know when you hate their memes?
Nope. I just don't do them.

23. What TV show would you like to be on?
American Idol. As a judge.

24. What was the last video game you played?
Guitar Hero a few months ago

25. Have you ever been in a musical? If yes, do tell.
Several school musicals, from 3rd grade to 12th grade. My first role in 3rd grade, I was Raggedy Ann in a Christmas musical, where the toys came to life. My senior year, I was a Bluebird Girl (Can-Can dancer and singer) in Carnival. My biggest musical role was Aunt Polly in Tom Sawyer in 5th grade.

26. Do you follow your own style or everyone else’s?
I'm not putting together really "out there" outfits or anything, so I guess I'm following the normal style du jour.

27. What’s the last store you bought from?
Target

28. In retrospect, have you ever let a person use you a lot?
Gosh I hope not.

29. What are you doing two days from now?
Spending the day at the LBJ Library and Bullock Museum with Doug.

30. Did you ever believe there were monsters in your closet?
Yep. Mostly, I was afraid of things under my bed though.

31. When you graduated high school, did you let random people sign your yearbook or just close friends?
No random people. Only friends and acquaintances.

32. Would you consider adopting a child that had a mental illness?
Yes

33. Does thinking about death scare you?
Yes, as it should.

34. If you died, do you believe that you go to Heaven or Hell and where would your spirit go?
Heaven. No giggles from the Peanut Gallery.

35. Who did you last write a snail mail letter to and why?
I don't remember the last snail mail letter I wrote.

36. Do you care what people say or think about you?
To an extent. I care what people who are close to me think about me. I want to know what others think, but their opinions don't affect me as much.

37. Have you ever been threatened?
I was almost smacked by a guy once. I have never been even remotely inclined to lay a finger on anyone in anger, but I would have beat the ever-loving sh*t out of him if he had touched me.

38. Which side of your family do you get most of your qualities from?
Good question! Probably my mom's. But there is a lot of my dad's side as well.

39. What was the last thing with alcohol that you drank?
a margarita at Kathy's last weekend

40. Have you ever kept a relationship a secret?
Nah.

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Separate iCloud and Shared iTunes Store

OK. The iCloud threw me for a loop, but I've figured it out with the help of many people on boards across the web, who were trying to figure it out themselves. Here's the boiled-down deal for someone like me, who shares an Apple ID with other family members to share apps and music purchased via iTunes...

Keep the shared Apple ID for iTunes purchases. Then each person in the family needs to have a different unique Apple ID for use with the iCloud. That will keep each of your files, contacts, backups, etc. separate while you can still share music and apps.

I think. I haven't had time to try it yet, but it's supposed to work. Unfortunately you can't experiment and jack around with your Apple IDs, because you have to wait 90 days to reassign an Apple ID to a device.

Here's a very basic article with most of the stuff I learned from skimming the net. (A hazard of downloading the first day.)

http://gigaom.com/apple/icloud-101-apple-ids-and-your-ios-device/


Saturday 9: Mrs. Potter's Lullaby

1. Adam Duritz (writer and lead singer of Counting Crows) mentions previous girlfriends in songs. In Mrs. Potter's Lullaby he sings “There a little piece of Maria in every song I sing”. Is there a piece of an ex that will always be a part of you?
Of course. JohnH gave me a deep appreciation of all different types of people, most of whom I would never have met, but for his expansive and wildly diverse social circle. Evans' philosophical and laid-back nature rubbed off on me... a bit! :D

2. Who was your very first significant friend?
Kristen Duteny in kindergarten

3. What are four (4) things you hope to do this weekend?
celebrate a victory at the A&M/Baylor game
see Ides of March
hang out with KathyL
figure out my iCloud stuff

4. What do you consider to be the main purpose of your blog?
free-form writing, with very occasional helpful or entertaining information

5. Tell us something that you've never before written about in your blog because it's too personal.
Ahahahaahaaaaaaa!! I think I've covered just about everything. Well, anything that might embarrass my daughter a LOT, I wouldn't say here.

6. If you could choose your doctor, do you prefer someone of the same or opposite sex?
If I have absolutely no other information or recommendation, I go with a guy. My only current female doc is my OB/GYN. She rocks!

7. If you could dream about anything tonight, what would the subject matter be?
George. Clooney.

8. How do you react to practical jokes when they're played on you?
I'm usually very embarrassed (which encourages people to do these things again), but I laugh along with everyone else!

9. What's on your agenda for the upcoming week?
We have a big Foundation event on Thursday night!


GIG 'EM AGS! BTHO BAYLOR!!

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TGIF

Interesting phone call on Kim Iverson's radio show last night. A girl's boyfriend had gone out of town and met up with his ex-girlfriend and they ended up sleeping together. While he was there, she had slept with a guy at home. When he later confessed to her about the incident and apologized and said he wouldn't do it again and he wanted to stay together, she told him that she also slept with someone that weekend.

That's when he freaked out and called her names and broke up with her. The girl said it wasn't fair, that she didn't understand why he has this double standard, etc. Kim said two things- the first of which I think we all know:

1) Most guys are able to have sex with no emotional connection to a person, "just for fun," whereas women typically have to have feelings for the guys they're with. So a man assumes if his girlfriend had sex with someone, she has an emotional connection to that guy.

2) One element of sex for men is a feeling of conquest, so there is a second reason for him to be upset... another guy came in and "conquered" his girlfriend.

Never thought of the power issue. It's sort of sick and hot at the same time, isn't it ladies?

I have to add that Kim said his reaction was completely inappropriate. Kim was just suggesting reasons he might see her transgression as more serious than his own.

One of the best songs from Evita- "Requiem for Evita/What a Circus". Check out this amazing clip from Andrew Lloyd Webber's bday celebration in 1999:



(Antonio is... whoa so cute)

...Mourning all day and mourning all night
Falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right...

Genious lyricist Tim Rice.

Ever wonder what entertainment would be like without lyricists and choreographers?



*snort*

The Austin Chronicle's Best of Austin 2011 is out!

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Kathy's Urologist Adventure

This must be what it's like for guys when they come with us to the OB/GYN. Only the reverse is more Tim Burton-esque.

I can't tell this story without the total-TMI background story (Lauren is cringing as she reads this, I'm sure), so... I was having very minor UTI symptoms. The labs didn't show that I had any infection, so after a couple of weeks, my doc sent me to a urologist, to see if they wanted to do a cystoscopy, where they look into my bladder with a camera. Sounds pleasant, no? I grudgingly went.

A urologist sees people with kidney and bladder problems, but also is the primary doc for men and their "man issues" like the OB/GYN is for women. We start going to our doc at 18. Men start going to theirs at 50. Not fair. But I digress.

In the waiting room, there were three other women and about fifteen men. Two of the women were just there with their husbands. Unlike the OB/GYN waiting room, where there are flowers and soft music and pamphlets about pregnancy, beauty products and healthy lifestyle, the urologist waiting room has just a bland gray wall of pamphlets on prostatitis, erectile dysfunction and vasectomy.

The nurse asked me to leave a urine sample. The OB/GYN bathroom is a pristine place, with pretty scents and touchless trash cans. This bathroom was a nightmare. If I didn't go in with an infection, I was pretty sure I would have one before I left. Really guys... peeing in a cup is FAR easier for you than for me. A little aim goes a long way. A bunch of packaged antibacterial wipes had fallen on the floor and were left there. I didn't even want to touch the pens for labeling the cup. Didn't want to get near the toilet seat, which was up of course. I'm not a germophobe, but I did a lot of hand washing throughout that process... with their rough, industrial paper towels.

In the examination room, where there is usually a whole-body anatomy chart at the regular doc or a pregnancy or female anatomy chart at the OB/GYN, there was one of a man and all his man parts. After studying it (hey- I've never seen the chart), I checked out all the equipment. Every piece of electronics in the room had some sort of long tube on it, for going up this or that. Frightening.

Luckily, the urologist didn't even examine me. He said he didn't have any reason to do a cystoscopy. I don't have the symptoms anymore, and he said it was probably just irritation from something I ate or drank. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. After I left, I just needed a hot shower and a chick flick!

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Boybands and College Sports

I was perusing some backup disks yesterday and found a treasure trove of stuff from the boyband fansite days! It would take a couple of weeks to go through it all, but I did read, ogle and listen to tons of files. I've got thousands of photos, vids, sound files, songs, song parodies, screencaps, desktop backgrounds, archived online chats, our website interviews, site graphics- just a ginormous grab bag of media. SO FUN!

ScottK is going with us to the Baylor game. He's completely unaffiliated with any teams.. for any sport... anywhere. He has never been to a "real" football game in his life. Not sure most people should take their first NCAA football baby step with an intense experience like an Aggie game, but I think he's ready! And it's White Out for Wildfire Relief-- don't forget, attendees!

In a couple of weeks, Jeff and I are going to a UT volleyball game with Scott and Julie. Yes, you read that correctly. Julie said she would teach us all the "things" you're supposed to do at a game to support the Longhorns. She started demonstrating them. Scott jumped in to say that we may have fun attending a game, but we won't be into all the "things." I would say that's pretty accurate. And I promise not to wear an A&M shirt. Jim (die-hard Longhorn) inspired me with his stories of attending Aggie games when he lived in College Station for several years. I can do this!

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Tuesday Stuff

Allergan has a new commercial for a med that helps with something they call "chronic migraine," defined as 15 or more migraines a MONTH. That's positively nightmarish. I get about one migraine a year, and that's awful enough. I used to have a prescription for a barbiturate (Fiorinal), but since I get migraines so infrequently, I didn't have it with me when I was out of town several years ago. I had to use Excedrin Migraine, and guess what- it worked just as well! Much less hassle, safer and readily available anywhere. Try it if you haven't. As long as I take it before the aura goes away (first 30 minutes or so) I get no headache whatsoever. I have a slight nausea and sound/light sensitivity, but that is it. I've never had to take a second dose.

While I'm giving random handy hints... all those new "curling mascaras" curl your lashes because the applicator brush gets mascara all the way around your lashes. To do it with whatever mascara you already own, just coat the top and bottom of your lashes. Ta da!! It really works.

Well, I added a Facebook page for my hobby website, encouraging everyone currently getting weekly updates via my Yahoo group to switch over. I was thinking probably 85% would move and I could just ditch the Yahoo group. Yeah, about 15% made the switch. So now my website has a Yahoo Group, a Facebook page and a blog. I really need to stop there. Sorry Twitter.

This weekend I did a survey meme that asked my current favorite commercial. Lauren reminded me it's actually this Chili's one:



Well, mostly the first five seconds. I've been saying, "It's singeing me!" for several weeks now, whenever the sun is frying my skin- quite a lot during the 100+-degree OSU game a couple of weeks ago.

(That is the correct spelling of "singeing." Yes, I did have to make sure. :) )

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Happy Columbus Day

(Ha! Thanks Shane!)

Gotta love a three-day weekend. Hope you are all enjoying your day off, too... if you have it! :)

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Aggies WIN!

I don't know that I've ever watched an A&M football game with UT fans. Oh, there was last year when Scott and Julie came over for the A&M/t.u. game on Thanksgiving, but Scott didn't go to UT and Julie only went for grad school, so she's not a real Longhorn. She's not even into football. Her support was half-hearted at best.

Last night I was at Shawn's (T-sip) with Laura (T-sip) and Rich ('sip), and Shawn's friend Clay (T-sip) and his wife Mary Jane (Vanderbilt- see ya next year!). We watched the A&M/Tech game because Shawn asked if I wanted to and I said, "Hell YES." Surrrrrrrrounded by them- not an Aggie in the room, but me. They were all very nice, I must admit. Clay was actually supporting us because he had a bet riding on the score (A&M within 5.5- so yay), but I'll take that.

And hey- I did watch the t.u./OU game earlier in the day.

I wasn't my typical Aggie-watching self. I managed to stay in my seat most of the time and keep my voice to a medium volume. SO glad we won that one, and played a second half unlike the prior two weeks. Gig 'em!!!


Patrick's Saturday Six

1. Describe your favorite old portrait of yourself: how old were you when the portrait was made and what were you doing?
When I was 3, my mom had a whole set of portraits made of me. This is one of the outtakes that she kept. My dress is dorked up, but the photo is very "me." Just a little silly at an otherwise very formal photo session.

2. Of the photos of people you have on display in your home, what percentage of them would you estimate have you in the photo?
20%

3. Which do you prefer in a portrait in terms of background: a solid color, a textured color, or a very scenic background?
textured color

4. Which do you prefer in a portrait: the subject smiling, looking serious or looking like they’re in thought?
smiling :)

5. Which do you prefer in a portrait: the subject making eye contact with the lens or not making eye contact with the lens?
making eye contact

6. You see a portrait of someone — male or female — who is in exceptionally good physical shape: how likely is that photo to make you take action to get in better shape yourself?
unlikely- and if I can tell someone is in great shape from a portrait, they're probably a bit more muscular than I prefer

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Watch Your Step

OK, so, picture this if you will...

Last night, Jeff was supposed to help KathyL move her extremely large couch from her living room to her garage, so that her gorgeous new couch, arriving this morning, has an empty spot to reside upon delivery. Well, he got a blister on his hand when he got home from work last night from digging a hole to try to fix a leak in our sprinkler system, so I helped her instead.

The couch is not light, but it's more humongous than heavy. We slid it easily across her floor with those little glider things. Then we tipped it onto its back to get through the front door. On its back, we lifted it and she led the way out, walking backwards. We went down the front porch step onto the walk that leads to the driveway.

Only there isn't just one step. There are TWO.

Blindly, I took a step onto what I thought was flat walkway, and started an extreeeeeeeme sloooooow-mooooootion tumble into Kathy's beautiful landscaping. As I was going down, along with my end of the mammoth couch, after my life passed before my eyes, I remembered that Kathy lives on a very steep hill. I continued my snail-paced descent into the plants, picturing myself rolling all the way down that hill and into the street below.

Splat. I fell flat onto the daylilies. BOOM. The giant couch fell into its upright state next to me. My head was downhill from my feet, and the couch was right alongside me, so I could barely move to even attempt to get up. Kathy was asking me if I was OK, and I knew I had scraped the ever-loving crap out of my leg on the steps, but the worst of it was my stomach muscles that were hurting from laughing. She had to literally pull me, uphill, out of the plants.

I could not... stop... laughing. We did get the couch into the garage. Then we had wine.

And now... a PSA: A reminder, not just to Hank, but to all those on both sides of the aisle who rant about things and are surprised when it comes back to bite them -- The First Amendment protects you from legal prosecution. It does not protect you from repercussions for things you say. It's your right to say it, and my right to be pissed off, and vice versa.


Saturday 9: Someday We'll Be Together

1. Have you ever left a relationship but knew that eventually you'd get back together?
No, I never assumed I was getting back together with anyone after the relationship was over. Once it was over, I figured it was over.

2. Are there things that you hate to buy? Items that you either hate to spend perfectly good money on or hate to spend the time it takes to buy them?
I hate to buy lightbulbs. It seems I'm always buying them. Our ceiling fan bulbs go out far too often.

3. What is your favorite cartoon show and why? 
Spongebob. It's family-friendly, unlike some of my other cartoon shows (Family Guy, Archer...), and I think it is hilarious most of the time. The older ones are, as is typical for most shows, more hilarious than the newer ones.

4. Are you anywhere close to doing what you wanted to do as a kid? 
Somewhat. I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom while my children were young, like my mom did. I've been a stay-at-home mom for longer than I imagined. Career-wise... somewhat as well. I wanted to be a doctor, but I am far too squeamish for it. I majored in a health-related field and took a job in another health-related field.

5. Now that you're in the "real world," is your current job now really what you want to do for a living? If not, what would you ultimately like to do? 
My passion would be to work at a university as a scholarship/financial aid administrator, helping students get money to go to school.

6. A local university has asked you to teach a class about the one thing you know the most about. What would you be teaching and what would the name of the course be?
Broadway Musicals 101

7. Commercials ... they can make us laugh or can annoy the heck out of us. Tell us about your favorite commercial and/or a commercial you simply loathe.
My fave is still this one...



8. Tell us about your favorite comedy movie of all time.
So many... I'll go with Princess Bride

9. Tell us about your favorite black and white movie of all time.
Sort of cheating here, but Young Frankenstein

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OK, Now it's Friday

Well, since the judge didn't impose an injunction, today is supposed to be the launch day for the new Timeline profiles on Facebook. I read somewhere that the Timeline folks' lawsuit against Facebook serves them right, after FB sued sites like Teachbook for the letters B-O-O-K. Ahhhhh HA! What goes around...

But yay. I may get to use my football-themed cover art.

New landscaping:

It looks SO GOOD! The centerpiece of the layout is the Japanese Maple near the front door. Very pretty. Had to trust the designer on that one.

Friday Five

1. What’s better the sloppier it gets?
No comment. :)

2. Who gets more beautiful the angrier he or she gets?
I don't think any of us are more "beautiful" when we're angry, but I think always-chipper types of guys can be "sexy" when they're angry... like...George Clooney. (Ides of March... in theaters now! Something tells me George isn't in the film as much as the trailer suggests. Hoping that's not true.)

3. What turns out better when it’s less planned or less organized?
Going out with a group, like for happy hour. An impromptu "hey, let's all hit Chuy's after work" is better than an email sent out Thursday with a time to meet on Friday.

4. When do less focus, less motivation, and less determination mean more success?
When you're trying to take a nap.

5. When is impatience a virtue?
When a loved one needs help, a la Terms of Endearment... "GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!!!"

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Feels Like Friday

It's only Thursday?? Not only does it feel like Friday-- it feels like NEXT Friday.

OK, I spent a few hours designing a fancy Facebook cover art image revolving around A&M Football. It's only relevant through about Thanksgiving, and they can't roll out the new Timeline profiles because some company is suing FB over the name. Oy. Come on, y'all! Don't make me start working on a Christmas graphic.

My house is notoriously difficult to find for some reason. We are on a normal, residential street. Not sure why the confusion exists, but everyone has the same complaint. Well, thanks to the electric company, it's currently well-marked with neon orange spray paint and little orange flags! You cannot miss it.

Let the landscaping begin!!

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Murder and Landscaping

It's not that often I find myself in the extreme minority opinion, but am I the only person who isn't a fan of Amanda Knox? She may or may not have had anything to do with her roommate's death, but while police were investigating the bloody murder scene inside her apartment, that girl was just outside the place, kissing her boyfriend and smiling and giggling. Creepy. At the very least.

Maybe I'm being too harsh... perhaps she was wrongly convicted because she's "too pretty." Too bad she wasn't tried in Florida, where Casey Anthony was also acting very inappropriately after the murder of which she was accused. There, being pretty gets you off the hook!

Major landscaping tomorrow! They're ripping out all our front yard, ill-designed, builder-installed landscaping and replacing it with new, gorgeous stuff. Also redesigning the beds to take some space where our live oak trees are dense and grass won't grow underneath them. We've had the trees thinned over and over again. It just seems silly to do it every year. Let the trees live a natural, full-leaved life. Screw the grass.

So excited! Although I'm not so excited about having to hand-water everything every day for the next 2 weeks, because water restrictions don't allow sprinklers on new landscaping. If you can't reach me, you can find me out front, with a hose.

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Mommy Songs

I always sing a line from a song if someone happens to say something that includes or relates to a snippet of the lyrics. (It's not as annoying as it sounds... I think...) The past few days I seem to have been coming up with a lot more than usual, prompting Lauren to complain, "Is there a 'Mommy Song' for everything?!"

Jeff: Yes.

I'm just THAT good with song lyrics. Boo-yah!
.
.
Well, I've determined the cause of the Aggies' second-half collapses these past two games. KathyL started watching both games at halftime. We can all relax now, as she has promised to stop watching the games altogether.
.
.
Bad Lip Reading does Rick Perry... heh...



"I am bored by famine. I cannot wait for a Medieval cookie, Cinnabon, hot yellow Kool-Aid... and save a pretzel for the gas jets! Thank you. I wrote that."

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"Everything was Beautiful at the Ballet..."

We went to Ballet Austin's Mozart Project performance last night at the Long Center. I really really enjoyed it! It was captivating- especially the two modernized segments by Graham Reynolds and DJ Spooky. Coolest visual effect- at the end of Reynolds' segment, the dancers are in the dark, but a super-bright light flashes every 8 seconds or so, like a flashbulb, revealing them in a different pose. Most amazing sound- DJ Spooky's entire Mozart "remix" with the live orchestra, with supercool modern/hip-hop choreography.

We also were very impressed during Reynolds' part that the musicians were a violinist, a cellist and a dude on a MacBook.

Of course, we loved the traditional ballet segment and music as well. Everyone needs a dose of culture at least once a year. Ballet, opera, symphony, dramatic readings... whatever blows your skirt up.


Patrick's Sunday Seven

You’re at a social function and you decide you want to have an alcoholic drink. Beer doesn’t seem “high class” enough for this function, so you head to the bar for a mixed drink. Can you name your seven favorite mixed drinks, liquors or spirits that might be among the options you’d consider, assuming the bar is fully stocked?

Name your seven favorite mixed drinks, spirits or liquors.

1. Long Island Ice Tea
2. Margarita, on the rocks, with salt
3. Mexican Martini
4. Mudslide
5. Pom Martini
6. Toasted Almond
7. Chocolate Martini

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Back from San Antonio

Football this morning!! BTHO Arkansas.

Went to Scarlet's graduation from army medic training yesterday. She was an exceptional student- so awesome!

They had a fabulous speaker at the ceremony. He gave them very practical advice- things everyone should know before being an independent adult, whether you're in the military or not. He spoke about being responsible with money, choosing the right friends, choosing the right spouse, getting or continuing your college education, always having a designated driver when you go out... really useful stuff. That's so much better than the whole "As you look forward with eager eyes, towards a new horizon..." gradspeak.

After graduation, we spent the afternoon at a grad party at Cathy's ex's house. Scarlet is off to Korea in the next few weeks. She's planning to visit Japan a few times while she's stationed there.

Patrick's Saturday Six

1. The weather’s just too hot for you and you decide to escape for a week to somewhere cooler: what’s the first place you’d think of?
With only one week... New York.

2. Months later, the weather’s now too cold for you and you decide to escape for a week to somewhere warmer: what’s the first place you’d think of?
Puerto Rico

3. Severe weather is moving your way. Which are you more likely to turn to first to get information on the storm: your radio, your television or the web?
I turn on the TV first, to get the most current info. If they aren't doing weather at the moment, I go to the web.

4. You find yourself sitting on a screened in porch during a strong thunderstorm: do you find this relaxing or terrifying?
relaxing

5. What is your thermostat set to right now?
77

6. How high do you set it at the coldest part of winter?
68

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