Hey look! It's a bunch of random thoughts!

It has been much too long since my last post! And yet strangely, I can’t seem to think of anything terribly interesting to write about, so of course that means that this will be a World Famous Random Thought Post. Yay! :)

Random thought #1: What’s up with North Korea? I wonder if the general population really hates us that much, or if they’ve just been so shielded from information about the outside world that they don’t know WHAT to think. And then, of course, you have the crazy government that can drag you off to a “work” camp any time they feel like it, which no doubt creates a constant atmosphere of fear and apprehension. No one wants to do anything that might upset the Dear Leader – so no one expresses an independent thought or opinion. Basically, the government’s opinion IS your opinion. Or else. I genuinely feel sorry for the citizens of that country…

Random thought #2: So last night I was making baked potatoes… and I usually just put potatoes directly on the oven rack to bake, so that’s what I did. And then I just left them and sort of forgot about them for 45 minutes or so, as I started grilling some steaks. Eventually, I became aware of a burning smell, which at first I attributed to the sizzling steaks on my cooktop grill pan. But then I realized it was, in fact, coming from the oven. And when I opened the door to check on the potatoes, I was met with that most bizarre of food disasters – the detonated spud. Now, for some reason I was under the impression that potatoes only explode in the microwave – but no, apparently they can also burst open in a regular oven, as well. One potato was fine, but the other had sort of shed its skin and was lying in a semi-burnt lump on the rack. I managed to salvage half of it, so it wasn’t a total loss… but I still have crusty burnt potato lying on my oven floor…

Random thought #3: It was 107 degrees here today… possibly 109, depending on which weather forecast you listened to. I think I saw Al Gore on I-35 driving a Hummer that was pulling a trailer full of coal and Styrofoam and plastic bottles, and he was smoking cigarettes and tossing them out the window…

Random thought #4: I miss Chicago… I haven’t been up there since Rick and I had to fly up and drive our car back down after he was laid off. And that was a rather sad trip… I miss Argo Tea and the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Basil Leaf Café and the Sofitel Hotel… and I haven’t been to Ghirardelli in soooooo long. I’m going through hot fudge sundae withdrawal… Oh, and I miss Eric, too. Yeah. Eric. Miss him. (Heehee… love you, Eric!! :))

Random thought #5: Since I started writing this earlier this morning, the news has been abuzz with the deaths of Farrah Fawcett AND Michael Jackson. I can’t say that I was surprised about Farrah Fawcett – she’d been so sick for a long time, and the news reports weren’t sounding very optimistic about her fate. What’s weird is that I’m honestly not THAT surprised about Michael Jackson, either. I mean, yes, it was unexpected, but doesn’t it seem like every time a picture or video of Michael Jackson was in the media over the last five years or so, he looked horrible? All of the botched plastic surgeries, the bony thin frame, the strange face mask worn in public, the sun-shielding umbrellas, the pajamas… I never looked at him and thought, “now THERE’S a guy who’s gonna live to be 90…” I might think that about, oh, say, Matthew McConaughey… I could see HIM living to be 90… because that would really annoy Eric… :)

Well, I guess that’s about it for today. Hopefully I’ll get over my blogger’s block and have something more interesting to say very soon…

A capitol idea...

Yes, that is "capitol" with an "o." Capital spelled with an "a" refers to the actual seat of government in a country, state, etc. -- whereas capitol with an "o" refers to the BUILDING in which all the government drones reside and mill about aimlessly and typically do absolutely nothing of use to any of us. And this is where Rick and I went today -- to the capitol building here in the capital of Texas. We've been partaking in quite a bit of Austin culture lately, since the art class Rick is taking requires him to get out and observe said culture. As I posted a couple weeks ago, we visited the Ransom Center so he could write a paper on a photography exhibit... and now he has to write a paper on architecture. And one of the more architecturally interesting buildings in Austin is the state capitol building.

I've probably been to the capitol building at least a dozen times, but I always find it interesting. It's quite an historical building, and it IS rather full of architectural detail. But one of the things I've always found the most interesting about it is its size -- it is the largest state capitol building in the country (not, as some believe, the TALLEST -- but rather the largest in square footage). It was, however, required for years to be the tallest building in the city -- none of the buildings downtown were supposed to be higher than the capitol. Which made for a rather boring, sprawling downtown area. That law was finally changed, though, and recently there has been a building boom in Austin -- we're finally starting to get some decent high-rises, and eventually the skyline will have even more character than it already has.

A few pictures from today, in no particular order:


The seals of the six flags over Texas (yes, that's where the amusement park got its name) -- Spain, France, Mexico, Texas, the Confederate States, and the United States...


Outside on the capitol grounds at the Texas Peace Officers Memorial...


Standing beneath the rotunda looking up at the Texas star...


Chandelier in the House of Representatives -- the lights spell out "TEXAS"...


Another view of the rotunda...


The view from the entrance gate...


Closeup of the Goddess of Liberty at the top of the dome... she's looking a little grimy... I think someone needs to get up there with some steel wool or some Oxyclean or something...


House of Representatives...


Senate...


The door hinges won't let you forget where you are...


The view from the capitol steps down Congress Avenue (the view from Congress Ave to the capitol is much better... :))

This just in...

Rick is once again employed!!!!! :)

And not a moment too soon -- the severance money was starting to wear a bit thin. Amazingly, he was hired right back on with the Company Which Must Not Be Named (well, I shouldn't say "amazingly" -- he pretty much proved over and over what an asset he was to that company... the fact that he was laid off in the first place is what's amazing...). This actually works out really well, because if you're hired back within a year of being laid off, you retain all your benefits. So since, after thirteen years of employment, Rick was allotted four weeks of vacation, he will once again have four weeks of vacation every year...

I know there were a lot of people out there praying and sending good thoughts and wishes and sticking pins in voodoo dolls (Eric -- and the Yankee voodoo has been working pretty well this year, too... :)) -- it's been a really stressful few months, and all the prayers and thoughts have been very much appreciated!! Thanks, you guys!!! :)

'Tis the season... of graduations...

So on Friday, Rick and I drove up to Abilene to attend our niece's high school graduation. There were 475 kids in the graduating class, and to accommodate all the relatives and friends, the graduation was held in the Abilene Civic Center, which was a big concrete building with stadium seating and no exits near the higher rows. (I was seriously wondering what would happen if someone yelled "fire" in that building... the people up top would have nowhere to run... that building has "makings of a stampede" written all over it...) We were a little worried at the beginning of the graduation -- all 475 kids filed in two by two to the incessantly-repetitious band rendition of "Pomp and Circumstance." And it took eons... 475 kids... slowly walking into the arena... gradually filling up the rows and rows of folding chairs set up on the floor. About halfway through, I felt like running down to the band and pushing the conductor aside so I could speed up the tempo. (C'mon, everyone -- double time! Let's make these kids RUN!) I mean, if it took that long for all of them to walk into the arena, how long would it take for every single name to be called out as the diplomas were awarded?

But surprisingly, the reading of those 475 names went much more quickly than we had anticipated. Although I still felt sorry for the kids with the "Z" names -- they had to wait until everyone else had a diploma before they could finally pick up theirs. I remember how hard it was to wait for everyone to file across the stage at graduation before I finally had my chance -- and my name was only a "W." And I had fewer than 200 kids in my class... But the day I graduated from high school was still one of the happiest days of my life... the fact that I knew I'd NEVER have to go back to that place was a source of much joy... :)

Our trip was quick, but it was great to see our nieces, and Rick's parents, and his sister Donna and her husband Dean... we also got to meet Dean's sister and mom, who were so sweet. On Friday night, the graduation girl Katie serenaded us with a little concert -- she is like crazy, scary talented. She got a guitar for Christmas (THIS past Christmas), and after about six months of playing, the girl sounds like she's been playing her whole life. She's also written a couple dozen songs (the ones she sang for us were AWESOME), and has an amazing voice. She definitely has a future in music, if she chooses to go that route.

A few pictures from this weekend:

Ah, the small towns of West Texas... we drove through about ten towns just like this one on the way up -- how do little towns like this survive? Hmmm...


Checking the program to see how many of those 475 names were left... (and yes, we were sitting up near the top, in the "nowhere to go if there's a fire" rows...)


Donna, Katie and Dean...


Cute picture of Mindy and Katie -- aren't they pretty? :)


Me and Katie... this picture makes me wonder -- could I BE any whiter?? I mean, seriously, is there a shade of white that is whiter than I am in this picture? Somebody hand me the spray-on tan...


Donna's new puppy... soooooo cute...

A day at the museum...

This morning Rick and I fueled up with a great breakfast at Trudy's -- which is a little Tex-Mex place near downtown -- and then headed over to the University of Texas campus to visit the Harry Ransom Center. Rick is taking two classes this semester -- one is a geography class, and the other is "appreciating the arts." (And since Rick has never been one to appreciate the arts all that much, he REALLY needs that class... :)) One of their assignments is to write a paper on any art exhibit in any art museum anywhere -- I was really hoping to visit one in Chicago, but since our schedules are very up-in-the-air right now (we both have job interviews this week, and then who knows what else after that...), we had to stick close to home. And while Rick isn't all that crazy about "art" in general, he DOES love photography -- and lucky for him, a photography exhibit is an acceptable subject for his paper. So we visited the Harry Ransom Center to see some photos by Fritz Henle.

Fritz Henle was born in Germany in 1909, and then decided to move to the U.S. as an adult. He became an American citizen in 1942 -- as World War II was in full swing. I thought it was interesting that a German man became an American citizen right in the middle of WWII. So I took a picture of his naturalization certificate:

Here are some of the pictures I liked (the pictures of the pictures didn't all come out very well because of the glare off the glass...):


A mother and child in India...


A Chevrolet in front of the RCA building in NYC...


Frida Kahlo...


This was probably my favorite photograph in the exhibit... it was titled "Gala Evening at the Met, New York City," and it was taken in 1950. I couldn't get a good picture of it without reflections in the glass, but I thought it was a really interesting photo. The man and woman (husband and wife?) are in the balcony, and while the man seems to be appreciatively applauding the ballerina, the woman looks as if she's had enough and wants to leave... possibly because her husband keeps gawking at the ballerina... :)

In addition to the photos, the Harry Ransom Center had an exhibition on the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Omar Khayyam was a medieval Persian astronomer who was also quite the poet. In the 1800's, English translations of his poems became extremely popular -- between 1859 and 1945, there was a strange fad-like fascination with the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.


And finally -- the Harry Ransom Center also has one of only five Gutenberg Bibles on display in the United States... pretty cool stuff...