Author: Jefe

Well, the theme for posting today seems to be COLD. Sarah is freezing to death apparently. Kevin is pretty cold, but getting by. I think I am the only person who is glad that it is, at last, time to get the jackets out of the closet, pull on the gloves, and NOT SWEAT LIKE A DOG FOR A LITTLE WHILE! I am not a member of the Polar Bear club or anything, but I enjoy winter when I can stay warm. Bundling up by the fire, wearing sweaters all the time, buying a new pair of gloves. It’s great fun, people, get in the spirit. Just imagine how much X-mas would suck if it were warm. Santa would have a coronary in that red velvet suit with all that blubber. That’s WHY he’s fat. Brothers’ gotta stay toasty.

Plus, anyone who rode in my BLACK truck in 110 degree Austin summer with no AC this year has been waiting for cold just as longingly as I have.

Well, the great day of being appreciative for stuff has past. Lots of people got together with family, including myself. S O Teric had a great day and made the traditional list of things to be thankful for, as did the bluishorange one (she’s more orange than blue, but whatever), and the dink gave us some great lyrics about family. K-Dog and Rye Bread did a great and noble thing, for which I am supremely proud of both of them. What I did for Turkey day seems a little selfish by comparison, but I have to say I can’t remember a better one in a while. Yes, I went to Big D to have lunch with my old man, but mostly, this year for Thanksgiving, I was ALONE.

And it was wonderful.

Work lately has been beating the crap out of me. In fairness, I asked for it (SMACK! “Thank you sir, may I have another?” SMACK!). I busted my butt, earned, asked for and was given a bit of authority and responsibility that others don’t have, and I am loving the oppurtunity. It’s nice to be recognized for your efforts. It’s nice to feel like a part of something bigger than yourself. It’s nice that work has finally gone from putting a roof over my head and food on my plate to putting toys in my toy box. The week before Thanksgiving, Austin hosts the National Emergency Medical Services convention, and paramedics and firefighters descend on us for three days and party like rockstars. In light of recent events, this year they deserved it more than ever. I met a few New York firefighters who have actually been at Ground Zero, and was moved in ways I hadn’t expected to be. I worked harder in those three days than I have in a long long time, and it was worth it.

So on Thanksgiving, after dinner and the traditional nap on the couch, I went back to my mom’s house, even though she and her better half weren’t there, but off visiting other family in the Cajun state. And I was alone all evening. I sat with my feet on my stepdad’s shiatsu foot massager for three hours. I watched a great old movie. I took a bath. I had a long phone conversation with someone important. I rested, and was thankful just to be quiet and still. It was one of the best Thanskgivings ever.

For several days, I had no idea what time or even what the date was. I knew it was Monday, that’s about it. Joe stole my watch. Really REALLY weird how addicted to technology I am. Say what you want about the world, or American society, or our generation or whatever. I NEED my watch. I don’t have a day job, I get up when I feel like it, I walk to my own beat. We all know about my issues with authority. Yet, I have the anal need to be on time for things, even things that don’t matter all that much. If I get to a film too late to see the previews, I won’t even pay to see it. How weird am I? Thankfully I got my watch back, but those three days were awful. Are there support groups for people like me? Crisis hotlines? Self-help courses, medication? I am so glad these posts are time-stamped…..

OK OK OK OK OK OK!!!!!

I can’t pick a winner, it’s just gonna have to be a tie. The winners of the Chinese sprinter haiku contest are:

in our olympics,

i was a chinese sprinter

running after love.

six cups of coffee–

i was a chinese sprinter

in line for toilet.

Thankfully, David wrote them both. Good job. Send me the proper info, and your prize is in the mail.

I did something tonight that I haven’t done in a long long time. I had enchiladas, I saw a film, I threw darts, I laughed. What counts is, I did it WITH someone. Not just any date, a first date.

I am a big fan of the first date. Since I rarely ask out anyone I don’t know, and I don’t go on blind dates, first dates with me are not all just getting to know you junk. They are getting to know MORE of you. After all, why would I want to have dinner with a stranger? What if she picked her teeth with her fork or something weird? So first dates for me are kind of a big deal. It means I am getting to spend some quality alone time with someone I really like, and I always hope that by the end of it, I’ll want to keep going. I dont get a lot of first dates, I seem to fall into relationships by accident. I end up dating someone I have been hanging out with, without any sense of formality. We just suddenly move to the next level. Those kinds of involvements are fine, but I like the old school approach better. I love first dates.

I do have rules, when it comes to dating, and in this instance, I am breaking one of those rules. Thankfully, so is she. Anyone who knows me knows I hate authority, and despise being told what to do. I make the rules, and I get to chose when to break them. However, there is one rule that dictates what one shouldn’t do on the first date that someone else made up long ago, and it’s a rule I always stick to. On first dates, you shouldn’t, and I didn’t.

But God I really wanted to.

Also, I think about a week to go on the aforementioned haiku contest. Remember, “I was a chinese sprinter” Good Luck to all.

ok, so here are the goings on……..

ONE. Marrilee managed to solve THE GREAT SQUARE mystery in about 2 seconds. We’re driving down the street on our way to lunch, and I say, “Hey, remember THE GREAT SQUARE post?” and she looks at me (as she often does) like I have quite simply lost what was left of my marbles. Then, as we reach the corner, near where the GREAT SQUARE sits, I point. She looks across the street, recognition and memory flash across her face, and suddenly, I am Jack’s extreme disappointment. Because, as Ed said (that was an unfortunate rhyme, but still), “And then, SHE RUINED EVERYTHING.”

“Its a drafting table.”

AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I hate it when she is matter of fact. and right. To top it all off, she wants to buy the thing. And actually USE IT FOR SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE! Stanley Kubrick would not approve.

DOS. Halloween has come and gone. I was Satan again, this year in a rock-a-billy theme. Cowboy hat. Pearl snap shirt with flames and skulls on it. Pointed black boots (I wear them all the time actually. I am Jack’s redneck fashion sense). Fake tattoos. Wallet chain. Too much fun. Kevin was someone famous. Wilford Brimley. Juan Carlo Esposito. Rita Hayworth. Had a black t-shirt made with simply the words, “someone famous.” Wore all black and his geek-chic glasses. Five people got the joke, smiled, and nodded. Very Kevin.

TROIS. It’s NANOWRIMO ! My new favorite holiday. I’ve got about 500 words so far, a bit off my game. Oh well.

I am Jack’s buildup of momentum.

On a lighter note, going to the store today to pick up the staples. Milk, bread, Travis tickets, eggs, Dr. Pepper. I expect a show of near religious inspiration, on par with Coldplay at the Backyard, or American Beauty. I am ducking work for this, so it had better be good.

I am also pondering a haiku inspired by my roomate, who concocted the middle section in a fit of laughter. “I was a chinese sprinter.” Any thoughts? A little mini contest. e-mail me your best haiku using that line, winner gets a prize sent snail mail to you by me worth somewhere between five and ten bucks. Include what you might like to win along with your poem, and I’ll consider it.