Texas Heat and the rise in energy costs

I live in Texas. I understand that Dallas, Texas is apparently seconds away from the hottest part of hell so I am and have been completely able to deal with the insane 100+ degree days that have occured since I have lived here. I am also a democrat and believe that the polar ice caps are melting and causing once cool climates to become warmer, not that Texas was EVER one of those.

It is now beginning to test my seemingly endless patience. It is September 21 a day before the official beginning of fall and the temperature will reach 100 degrees today. Normally, when you are a college student or some other type of person whom does not have to wear a tie to work its not a big deal. Try being a buttoned down, tie wearing, professional who must swelter to death. Not a good time. I refer to the "hot and angry' comment in the 'DMV continues' blog. This has become me.

The Texas heat is not all bad though, it has taught me several important life lessons such as:

1. NEVER, I repeat NEVER purchase a car with black leather seats and live here unless you are prepared for the pain of third degree burns on your butt and hands. Sometimes the steering wheel feels like it is melting in my hands. Its almost surreal.

2. NEVER, rent a vaulted ceiling apartment on the top floor of an apartment building unless you are financially capable of paying 271.00 a month in electric bills to keep it cool. This from experience (thats right my 525 square foot apartments electric bill in August was 271.00) I almost fainted.

3. There is nothing that compares to the tan that one gets from the Texas sun. Its almost instantaneous. Need a tan for the next night, walk to the mailbox with no shirt on. THERE YOU GO!!! Hmmm, if only I could bottle it and sell it on ebay.

Texas is an interesting place to live, its hotter than any other place save for the Sahara but for all the gripes it has its advantages. If I want to go to a GREAT art gallery or a sculpture garden, I can. If I want to go to a FANTASTIC zoo its only about 30 minutes away so I guess I can't gripe too much. I will just have to be careful about plopping down in the seat of my car on the way to the cool stuff.

Bring back the FIRST WHITNEY!!!!

As I sit at my desk working away (blog written while eating lunch, not to worry bossman) listening to Whitney Houstons greatest hits I have to wonder. Where did it all go wrong Whitney??

In the 80's, I was a mere child, BUT Whitney was at the TOP of her career. Her singles were climbing to number 1 one right after the other and she was in the prime of her widly successful career. She never had to tour because of the immense success of her albums. She quickly became one of the top selling artists of her time. She had it all. A beautiful voice, an incredible career, and only the future to look forward to.





Running parallel with her in the 80s was her soon to be husband Bobby Brown. The preverbial "bad boy" of 80s R&B he release soothing hits such as "Roni" and "My Perogative". I remember riding in my friend Belindas tan Honda Accord going towards Conway wondering what he meant in My Perogative when he said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm really not SOUP". I didn't know and as I remember this confused her too. LOL.

Anyway these two stars would eventually cross and begin down a path of arrests, drugs, reality TV shows, and SNL sketches about them. I don't know if you watch Mad TV but you SHOULD because they have the most hysterical sketches of Bobby and Whitney. For some reason, Whitney is always sweating wildy and sniffing. HE HE HE HE!!!

On the subject of TV shows, if you get a chance to catch Being Bobby Brown on A&E you should amuse yourself and watch it if only for a few minutes. It is quite obvious that Whitney is slowly losing her mind and she is more on drugs now than ever. She refuses to be pictured with people and she is always sweating and her hair looks incredibly greasy. Looks like a victim of the nose candy if I have ever seen one. Most amusing is Whitney's catch phrase "hell to the NAH!!"

How the mighty have fallen. I can't say that I don't think Bobby somewhat responsible for Whitneys fall from grace. She was a good church going girl when she started and he was the bad boy telling people to leave him alone when he was miking on the microphone and not to call him Freddy. Now as I listen to these songs again, his lyrics weren't all that clever. Hmmm. Why when you are in your teens did he seem to be an R&B genius??

My suggestion for those hardcore Whitney fans? Want to bring her back to her previous glory? Buy her best hits album and remember the days of yore when crack really was whack, *sniff, sniff*, and she was the Queen of Pop.

Dear President Bush...

Dear Mr. Bush:
Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.
Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?
Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!
I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?
And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!
On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.
There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.
No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!
You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Camels on DUBS

Alright, I admit it. I LOVE going to google and searching for random images. You can't believe the stuff that you can look at by just putting in one simple phrase. Today, I decided that the picture of the Rolls Royce that was on my screensaver needed updating and thought about the Egyptian pyramids. They have an amazing beauty and tranquility about them. I am sure that it has something to do with the fact that they were built 1000's of years ago by people who weren't a lot less advanced than we are now comparitively.

Anyway, so I surf, I click, and I type in Egyptian Pyramids. Amongst the hundreds of different kinds of pictures that are available is the picture that is to the right. Of course, how could you expect anything to do with Egypt without a picture of a camel being right in the middle of them. After all, that is the most efficient mode of transportation. Think about it. Give it minimal water and it will walk you to the top of the mountain for a buffet lunch (Margaret Cho reference for those of you questioning yourself.)
And with the gas prices escalating the way that they are currently I might have to consider purchasing one. I think I might get odd looks at the intersection of Cedar Springs and Oaklawn in between a BMW and a Mercedes on my camel. This image is causing a peal of laughter at the moment.

Although I do hear that they spit so be careful.

So I got the pic that I wanted of the pyramids but that got me to thinking about the garb that is on the camel. All of those tassels and fancy weaving typically reserved for lamps or rugs or wall hangings in an ancient German castle seem to be out of place on a desert taxi. Could this decoration be the egyptian form of the chrome wheel and ostrich skin interior made popular by sports figures and the idle rich????

Does Habib travel down to the camel decoration store properly named "West Nile Customs" to pimp his camel? Are their different levels of this? Can you get a stock camel or a conversion camel. "COMES COMPLETE WITH EXTRA HUMP AND LEATHER SADDLE BAGS!!!"

I know this is a ridiculous blog but could it be that eastern culture is affected by our western wierdness?

Possession

Last night while helping Dylan put together his newly purchased ware from the GREAT Ikea this song came on the radio. I had totally forgotten how MUCH I love the words to this song.

It originated as a letter from Sarah McLachlans stalker and she turned it into a song. So I know thats slightly creepy but it is possibly one of the most beautiful things that I have ever heard. Its on her "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" Album.

listen as the wind blows
from across the great divide
voices trapped in yearning
memories trapped in time
the night is my companion
and solitude my guide
would i spend forever here
and not be satisfied
and i would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
i'll take your breath away
and after i'd wipe away the tears
just close your eyes dear
through this world i've stumbled
so many times betrayed
trying to find a honest word
to find the truth enslaved
oh you speak to me in riddles
and you speak to me in rhyme
my body aches to breathe your breath
your words keep me alive
and i would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
i'll take your breath away
and after i'd wipe away the tears
just close your eyes dear
into this night i wander
it's morning that i dread
another day of knowing of
the path i fear to tread
oh into the sea of waking dreams
i follow without pride
nothing stands between us here
and i won't be denied
and i would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
i'll take your breath away
and after i'd wipe away the tears
just close your eyes dear
i'll hold you down
kiss you so hard
i'll take your breath away
and after i'd wipe away the tears
just close your eyes