The Men in My Life
The Astros lost four straight games in the World Series. They remind me of many of the men I have known. They take my time (watching the games), my money (tickets, gear, mass quantities of beer), and my emotions, then they just let me down in the end.
Oh well. Wait until next year.
Or just wait until tomorrow for basketball season to start. Basketball is my favorite sport, and I have lots of teams to watch. And lots of teams will let me down. But I love every minute of it.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Houston
If you live anywhere near Houston, you may have heard that the Astros are in the World Series. In fact, that's pretty much all you hear about these days. But that's OK. We need some diversion after the tragedies of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Thousands of evacuees from Katrina flooded into Houston, and many are still here. For a few weeks, we were innundated with stories of separated families, massive losses, and other devastations. Then just a few weeks later, they told us to get out because Rita was coming. At least half of the metropolitan area of 5 million people left. Rita bypassed Houston and left only intense heat. Rita did her damage in East Texas, where my sister (among thousands of others) had no power for 5 days of 100+ weather.
But I digress. The point is that we are happy to have good news to celebrate. Our Astros are in the World Series! They are down 2 games in a 7 game series. But just ask the Houston Rockets about getting an early lead in a series. Just 6 months ago, they won the first 2 games of the playoffs against Dallas, then Dallas won the 7 game series.
Many women are missing the wonders of major league sports. Where else can you see lots of large, physically fit (for the most part) men showing what they can do with their bodies? Except for linemen in football, athletes are a hot bunch. Basketball is best because they have the least clothing, and the fans are closer to the action. The largest basektball arena holds about 20,000 fans, while baseball and football stadiums hold 2-3 times that.
I don't count hockey because we didn't have that in Texas for most of my life. Besides, you can't tell what's under all those clothes and pads!
If you live anywhere near Houston, you may have heard that the Astros are in the World Series. In fact, that's pretty much all you hear about these days. But that's OK. We need some diversion after the tragedies of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Thousands of evacuees from Katrina flooded into Houston, and many are still here. For a few weeks, we were innundated with stories of separated families, massive losses, and other devastations. Then just a few weeks later, they told us to get out because Rita was coming. At least half of the metropolitan area of 5 million people left. Rita bypassed Houston and left only intense heat. Rita did her damage in East Texas, where my sister (among thousands of others) had no power for 5 days of 100+ weather.
But I digress. The point is that we are happy to have good news to celebrate. Our Astros are in the World Series! They are down 2 games in a 7 game series. But just ask the Houston Rockets about getting an early lead in a series. Just 6 months ago, they won the first 2 games of the playoffs against Dallas, then Dallas won the 7 game series.
Many women are missing the wonders of major league sports. Where else can you see lots of large, physically fit (for the most part) men showing what they can do with their bodies? Except for linemen in football, athletes are a hot bunch. Basketball is best because they have the least clothing, and the fans are closer to the action. The largest basektball arena holds about 20,000 fans, while baseball and football stadiums hold 2-3 times that.
I don't count hockey because we didn't have that in Texas for most of my life. Besides, you can't tell what's under all those clothes and pads!
Monday, October 24, 2005
Weather
We Texans are wimps when it comes to cold weather. If you have never been to Texas in the summer, you can't begin to realize the breadth and depth of our heat. In North Texas, where I grew up, summer began in May and ended some time in September. The heat reached amazing heights, with many days over 100 each summer. The day may have started out humid, but that usually burned off by lunchtime so that we could sear all afternoon. Oh, and our house and cars did not have air conditioning. I went to schools with air conditioning only 3 of my 12 school year. I learned to hate the heat and swore that I would never live in a house or drive a car unless it could be sufficiently cold at any given time. This means that the house would have to have central air conditioning because a window unit just won't do.
Then I moved to Houston and learned of a new kind of summer. This one begins in April and goes until October or later. Many years, I have had my air conditioner running on at least some days in December. It is almost always humid in Houston, stifling most of the time. When you walk out the door in the morning, you feel like you just stepped out of the shower into the steamy bathroom. But humidity is good in that my skin stays moist and it's much easier to breathe moist air than dry air. And the heat in Houston is lower than in Dallas. In Houston, we may have 3 or fewer days of 100+ temperatures. But the never-ending summer makes it seem hotter for longer.
On Saturday, we had a beautiful day in Houston, with clear skies and highs in the low 80s. I planned to travel to Dallas on Sunday to see a concert with my brother and my nephews. It was an all-day outdoor concert, and my brother told me to wear long sleeves because it was supposed to be cool.
Cool is was not. Freezing ass cold was more like it. It was overcast and windy. It had to be in the 40s, and the wind made it feel even colder. I spent a small fortune on hooded sweatshirts, which made it bearable (we wore them over our original sweatshirts). The copious amounts of beer that I guzzled may have also helped with the antifreeze factor.
You may be laughing your ass off at us for being so cold in the 40s. But we are not used to this, especially on a week after we days of 90+. We simply can't handle the cold or the sudden change in weather.
On to the concert. I am too old for this. Seeing one or two bands would be all right, and I enjoy seeing some of the current bands. Earlier last week, I saw Nine Inch Nails in Houston and had a great time. But spending eleven hours in the freezing cold listening to bands that I had not heard of was a bit of an experience. I had been telling my nephews (ages 15 and 11) that I wanted to take them to their first concert. They had been to one before yesterday, so I didn't make that vow come true. And while they knew many of the bands, I knew only a few. The important thing is that they had a good time. And I enjoyed spending time with them and my brother, when we weren't shivering.
Today I flew back to Houston to a sunny, perfect day. Why couldn't we have had this weather yesterday?
I hardly ever go to concerts any more because the bands I like don't tour too much. When they do, the tickets sell out in 30 seconds, and I'm unwilling to pay scalper prices. Of course, the week my Astros are in the World Series, I have two concerts. I have not been to five concerts in the past 3 years, and I get two in one week. That's the way things go for me sometimes.
Speaking of the Astros, can you believe that they are in the World Series? This city is losing its damn mind. They can't print T-shirts and hats fast enough. Lines form outside sporting goods stores, and the stores sell out every day. It's crazy. Now the Astros need to do their part. They lost games 1 and 2. They love coming from behind and all, but it is making us nervous. We want a win! We want to, at the very least, not get swept.
So, in closing, go Astros!
We Texans are wimps when it comes to cold weather. If you have never been to Texas in the summer, you can't begin to realize the breadth and depth of our heat. In North Texas, where I grew up, summer began in May and ended some time in September. The heat reached amazing heights, with many days over 100 each summer. The day may have started out humid, but that usually burned off by lunchtime so that we could sear all afternoon. Oh, and our house and cars did not have air conditioning. I went to schools with air conditioning only 3 of my 12 school year. I learned to hate the heat and swore that I would never live in a house or drive a car unless it could be sufficiently cold at any given time. This means that the house would have to have central air conditioning because a window unit just won't do.
Then I moved to Houston and learned of a new kind of summer. This one begins in April and goes until October or later. Many years, I have had my air conditioner running on at least some days in December. It is almost always humid in Houston, stifling most of the time. When you walk out the door in the morning, you feel like you just stepped out of the shower into the steamy bathroom. But humidity is good in that my skin stays moist and it's much easier to breathe moist air than dry air. And the heat in Houston is lower than in Dallas. In Houston, we may have 3 or fewer days of 100+ temperatures. But the never-ending summer makes it seem hotter for longer.
On Saturday, we had a beautiful day in Houston, with clear skies and highs in the low 80s. I planned to travel to Dallas on Sunday to see a concert with my brother and my nephews. It was an all-day outdoor concert, and my brother told me to wear long sleeves because it was supposed to be cool.
Cool is was not. Freezing ass cold was more like it. It was overcast and windy. It had to be in the 40s, and the wind made it feel even colder. I spent a small fortune on hooded sweatshirts, which made it bearable (we wore them over our original sweatshirts). The copious amounts of beer that I guzzled may have also helped with the antifreeze factor.
You may be laughing your ass off at us for being so cold in the 40s. But we are not used to this, especially on a week after we days of 90+. We simply can't handle the cold or the sudden change in weather.
On to the concert. I am too old for this. Seeing one or two bands would be all right, and I enjoy seeing some of the current bands. Earlier last week, I saw Nine Inch Nails in Houston and had a great time. But spending eleven hours in the freezing cold listening to bands that I had not heard of was a bit of an experience. I had been telling my nephews (ages 15 and 11) that I wanted to take them to their first concert. They had been to one before yesterday, so I didn't make that vow come true. And while they knew many of the bands, I knew only a few. The important thing is that they had a good time. And I enjoyed spending time with them and my brother, when we weren't shivering.
Today I flew back to Houston to a sunny, perfect day. Why couldn't we have had this weather yesterday?
I hardly ever go to concerts any more because the bands I like don't tour too much. When they do, the tickets sell out in 30 seconds, and I'm unwilling to pay scalper prices. Of course, the week my Astros are in the World Series, I have two concerts. I have not been to five concerts in the past 3 years, and I get two in one week. That's the way things go for me sometimes.
Speaking of the Astros, can you believe that they are in the World Series? This city is losing its damn mind. They can't print T-shirts and hats fast enough. Lines form outside sporting goods stores, and the stores sell out every day. It's crazy. Now the Astros need to do their part. They lost games 1 and 2. They love coming from behind and all, but it is making us nervous. We want a win! We want to, at the very least, not get swept.
So, in closing, go Astros!
Thursday, October 20, 2005
The Blog Begins
OK. Today I turned 45 years old, and I realized that I'm past the halfway mark. People in my family live a long time, but generally not past 90. So I need to complete a few things.
I have always wanted to be a writer. While I have spent several years being paid to write, I have been writing technical manuals and marketing materials. Not much creativity is involved - unless you count devising ways to get along with some extremely challenging coworkers creative.
Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, and several of the books that I have read lately came about because their authors had blogs. Check out www.poundy.com and read her book I'm Not the New Me. It is one of the funniest books that I have ever read, and trust me, in 45 years, I have read a lot of books. Wendy keeps a diary that documents, among other things, her struggles with weight. I can relate, as I have been on a diet more or less since I was 6 years old.
I'm now reading Julie and Julia, also started on a blog. While I would never embark on Julie's project of making every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I'm enjoying her book. I'm a vegetarian, but not a very good one. I eat seafood and cheese. On special occasions, I will even eat beef or pork but never chicken. Chicken is just too gross for me, mainly because of the bones.
My younger sister got a self-help book published over a year ago, and she has been encouraging me to publish the cookbook that I have written and been giving to friends and family for the past several years. I have had many, many rejection letters on the cookbook, so I need another project. Thus, I'm starting the blog.
Even if I don't get a book deal, I will have an opportunity to write something more fun than why my company's product is better than your company's product.
More later...
OK. Today I turned 45 years old, and I realized that I'm past the halfway mark. People in my family live a long time, but generally not past 90. So I need to complete a few things.
I have always wanted to be a writer. While I have spent several years being paid to write, I have been writing technical manuals and marketing materials. Not much creativity is involved - unless you count devising ways to get along with some extremely challenging coworkers creative.
Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, and several of the books that I have read lately came about because their authors had blogs. Check out www.poundy.com and read her book I'm Not the New Me. It is one of the funniest books that I have ever read, and trust me, in 45 years, I have read a lot of books. Wendy keeps a diary that documents, among other things, her struggles with weight. I can relate, as I have been on a diet more or less since I was 6 years old.
I'm now reading Julie and Julia, also started on a blog. While I would never embark on Julie's project of making every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I'm enjoying her book. I'm a vegetarian, but not a very good one. I eat seafood and cheese. On special occasions, I will even eat beef or pork but never chicken. Chicken is just too gross for me, mainly because of the bones.
My younger sister got a self-help book published over a year ago, and she has been encouraging me to publish the cookbook that I have written and been giving to friends and family for the past several years. I have had many, many rejection letters on the cookbook, so I need another project. Thus, I'm starting the blog.
Even if I don't get a book deal, I will have an opportunity to write something more fun than why my company's product is better than your company's product.
More later...
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