Pic Of The Day - 11.24.15 - Liz

Back in the 80ss...maybe early '90s I was with a colleague in Albuquerque. We were both there for a college fair of some sort and went out to a club. He was wearing a white t-shirt with this huge abstract drawing of Elizabeth Taylor. On the back of the t-shirt it said this:

So, when I saw this come across my Instagram feed, it took me back to Albuquerque and to that evening. It's a screenshot but it is my pic of the day.

Pic(s) Of The Day - 09.10.15 - USCA

I awakened on my birthday to fluttering of sounds on my phone. It was notifications from Facebook that people were wishing me a Happy Birthday. Some of you may think it's odd that I would opt to spend my birthday out of town but as I've mentioned before, birthdays are no big deal to anymore. I might throw a double nickel party next year. Maybe. Maybe not.

I was in DC for the United States Conference on AIDS. Unexpectedly, I ended up in the same room with Kate Burton and Nancy Pelosi and an $18 sandwich.

Prior to eating my $18 sandwich, I'm not sure I knew who Kate Burton is but it turns out she is the daughter of Richard Burton and she is on Scandal. She was there to present Nancy Pelosi with The Elizabeth Taylor Legacy Award. Unbeknownst to me, Nancy had taken on the fight against HIV/AIDS early in her career when she joined the U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, they showed a photo of a young Nancy Pelosi with Elizabeth Taylor!

Nancy was met with skepticism by her House colleagues. She also stated that by now she thought there would be a cure. She looks forward to a time when the disease is eradicated. “It will be relegated to a museum — people will take their children and say, ‘There was a time when HIV… invaded our community, but we overcame it.’”

Would you hurry up and lay that egg already!

Believe it or not I actually made it to LeFittes tonight to do some weights. It had been 7 days since I have been there (I keep a log of every time I walk The Calvinator, run, spin, and do weights) and I was surprised when I noticed that tonight.

Anywho. There were some new faces there. Another gym is a bit behind in making their move to a new location and their members are using other gyms in the interim.

So after I left the gym I decided to stop at JAX Grille to get a bite to eat. It wasn't crowded but there were people there and the televisions were tuned into different sporting events so my point is: there was noise.

At one long table it looked like some type of family birthday celebration was going on. Good time was being had by all. However, one lady was having too good of a time. She had a couple of beer bottles in front of her, which is fine. When she laughed you could hear it all over the restaurant and it was a cackle and it was frequent and it was annoying.

I really was waiting for her to lay an egg.

In other news:

RunnerOne was in my mailbox today; well sorta. He is the full page cover for the new edition of Inside Texas Running. His story about running in Death Valley this summer is the feature story. If you don't get a subscription to the magapaper, you check out his website and read the story.

A 135 mile run from 282 feet below sea level to 8360 feet above sea level. Crazy I tell you! :-)

Have you been outside tonight!!!!???? At 900P it was 77 degrees but the humidity is only 41%. I took The Calvinator out for his quick pee and the weather was wonderful! Let's hope it stays around for awhile. Maybe October really is here?

Anyone taking bets on how long Pamela Anderson will stay married? LOL Let's see. It is the third marriage for her and the third marriage for Rick Salomon.

So when people say that they want to pass a law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman and it is to protect the sanctity of marriage and defend it and blah, blah, blah...I look at people like Pamela & Rick or Elizabeth Taylor (married 8 times and OK, one of her husbands died) or Zsa Zsa Gabor (married 9 times with one annulment) or Donald Trump (married 3 times) or Britney Spears (married 2 times and let's see the first one lasted 55 hours and then was annulled because they didn't know what they were getting into, blah, blah, blah).

So if anything should be done to defend and protect the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman how about outlawing divorce? Once you're married you're married and that's it. HA! That will show you. :-)

And although Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may not be the poster children for marriage, Brad has said that they will get married when everyone can get married. I guess we know where they stand on the issue.

That's how I see it from 30,000 feet. At ground level I can see the intricacies and things that need to be worked through, etc. There's quite a bit more I could say about this subject but I'm getting way off track. :-) So back to my original question: How long will Pamela & Rick's marriage last?

I say 6 - 8 months.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 1.2

Greetings from the office. I've got a bunch of things on my mind this morning so bear with me, OK? Thanx. This is sort of a cornucopia of idle thoughts.

Heights Fun Run

A few Saturdays ago I did a 5K Fun Run in The Heights. It is one of my favorite runs because it is very much a neighborhood event...even though I don't live in the neighborhood I still like to run it. Anywhoo...they have a Kids Fun Run that goes along with it.

I was intrigued with this little girl who from the get-go was leading the pack. She had great form. I'm not sure where she lost the lead but she came in 2nd and only missed 1st place by a split second. You geaux girl! Keep an eye on her. She could be the next FloJo.

Tim Johnson: For The Chronicle
Ebony Smith, 8, left, and Christopher Delgado, 13, finish in first place in the girls and boys divisons of the 22nd annual Heights Fun Run.

"I have one word for you Benjamin. Recycle"

I am amazed at the amount of plastic, aluminum and paper that I can collect in a two week period. Yesterday was recycle day in NoRO. On Sunday night I took a photo of my recycle bins. Look at this! And this is what I remembered to save. We all need to do our part to recycle. I won't get on my soapbox YET about what doesn't happen at the office.

There was an editorial about recycling in yesterday's Houston Chronicle. Check it out.

Judge Judy

Did anybody see Judge Judy on Larry King Live last week? Did she actually say Elisabeth Hasselhoff instead of Elisabeth Hasselbeck? LOL

June Birthdays

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've lost my list of birthdays and I know I have forgotten a few. Mea culpa.

Here's a shout out to folks celebrating birthdays in June.

David in PHX had a birthday earlier this month. I have known David for almost 20 years. We met when I was 10. LOL (uh huh...sure) He was working at Trinity University and I was working at Texas Wesleyan University. I don't have a pic of David but I do have one of Elizabeth Taylor.

You see...we were in Albuquerque one time to do some sort of a college fair. We went out later that night and David was wearing an Elizabeth Taylor t-shirt. The image was sort of Warhol-esque on the front. If I remember correctly, on the back was this quote: "I've been through it all, baby, I'm mother courage.” –Elizabeth Taylor

I can't find the image so I'm going to post one of my favorite Elizabeth Taylor pictures.

Birthday greetings also to Ken in Qatar. I met Ken when he lived in Houston for a bit. Ken is actually from Canada and has his permanent residence in Calgary. Many good times have been shared with Ken and most of them have involved some sort of adult beverage.

Ken and I share a favorite moment in our friendship. A few years ago I went to visit him in Calgary. It was around July 4. We went to an outdoor rodeo and I have never been so cold in my entire life during the month of July. During the visit we had a fabulous dinner at his dinner table that involved a bunch of wine, laughter and music. Also at the dinner table were Joe and Brian. I remember waking up at some point in the wee hours of the morning under the dining room table. Don't worry, I wasn't the only one passed out in the dining room.

And last but not least, birthday greetings to Leah in Fort Worth. Leah and I met in college. She is one of those people that I may not speak to for months but when we do it's like we just spoke yesterday. Leah is one of the two people I credit with teaching me to like beer. I think one of my favorite memories is tubing down the Guadalupe River with her and Tracey and some other members of the Student Foundation. THEY had a tube specifically for beer! I don't have a pic of Leah but I will raise a beer mug in her honor.