Pic Of The Day - 08.13.15 - Shopping From A To Z

I need some new athletic wear and I'd been looking at this Astros colored shirt at Sports Authority which then lead to me looking for a bargain or two which then lead to me walking down to DSW and finding some shoes and socks and boy was I tired!

Pic Of The Day - 03.07.15 - Endings and Beginnings

I attended a memorial service for a former co-worker who recently passed away. It's a sad situation because she leaves behind two teenage children and another teenager that she took in under her wings.

The service was the opportunity to gather as friends and family and memorialize her life. It was symbolic of an ending and the opportunity to collectively say, "Good-bye."

In the parking lot I noticed a tree that was beginning to blossom. Spring is almost here. It's a time for new beginnings. And the tree reminded me that as one life ends a new one begins.

Only the good die young

Many of you may remember Billy Joel's song Only The Good Die Young. It was quite popular when I was in high school...Catholic high school that is. If you know the lyrics you know the significance of the song to going to a Catholic high school.

I picked a fight with someone the other night. A few adult beverages and some text messages and once the ball started rolling down the hill I wouldn't let it stop.

My bad behavior was really bugging me and I called the person today to apologize. Whether I was right or wrong I should have dealt with this in an adult manner rather than doing it via text messages.

In our talk today he told me about someone who died yesterday. Tyler Goolsby died yesterday at the age of 27. It was sudden. I don't have all of the details but I do know that he was with friends when it happened.

Tyler had just finished law school. He was also a member of the Lonestar Lariats. I've read postings on his Facebook wall and he was a really special guy.

Tyler's untimely death is on the heals of the death of a cousin of mine. James was only 45 and he too died suddenly.

I am very glad that I called and apologized to my friend. If I hadn't done it and if something happened to him, I would never be able to forgive myself. So please, if there is someone in your life that you need to make amends with, please do it. Obviously, life can be too short.

I went to Mass this evening and one of the songs had this lyric in it: There is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend. It reminded me of a conversation I had late last night with someone. We were talking about our unique friendship that is based upon us being über-fans of Pet Shop Boys. We had been together for a big chunk of the afternoon and evening and the song Being Boring was our theme song last night.

Cherish the people in your life.

Jukebox Wednesday

Some bloggers post pics of themselves on HNT (Half Naked Thursday) and yes, they are HN. I can't imagine anyone wanting to see me HN on a Thursday, much less FN on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday!

So...I thought I would start Jukebox Wednesday. Once a week, on Wednesday, I will either post a video or the lyrics to a song that I really like.

With today's launch, I am posting a song by Tina Turner. Are you shocked that it isn't a Pet Shop Boys song? Knowing that my gentle readers would expect that I decided to throw you for a loop and make your day a bit caddywampus!

I saw Tina Turner perform this song live in May 1996 when she launched her Wildest Dreams Tour at The Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavillion in The Woodlands, Texas. And guess who was there that night? Oprah! That would be the first of two Oprah incidents in my life and it would be the first of two times I would see Tina Turner perform. I digress. So here is Tina Turner's Silent Wings.

Friends

Of all the things that are not perfect in my life, I am very grateful for my family and friends. Many of you are familiar with the saying, "Friends are the family you choose for yourself."

All of my immediate family is Ft. Worth. I have oodles and oodles of relatives in the Fort Worth-Dallas area as well as a pocket of family in Kansas City, Missouri AND Kansas; both sides of the river. (Question: How does one decide which Kansas City to live in?)

So when I moved to Houston, I moved here not knowing anyone. I left behind a very good circle of friends in Ft. Worth. For me, Houston was a tough town to break into. As time went on, I made friends here and while some of us have drifted, I know that there is always a group of people I can count on.

Oprah once asked, "Who are you without your memories?" and to that I would add, "...and without your friends?"

Last night, I met up with a longtime friend who now lives in Calgary, Canada. We met for some stunning repartee, fellowship and adult beverages, followed by Tex-Mex food. Another friend joined us and then I invited two other friends. I'm a big believer in blending relationships.

So here is a photo of us all together.

After partaking of the stunning repartee, fellowship and adult beverages, three of us went for Tex-Mex food and the other two met up with some other friends. All in all it was a GREAT evening.

I think too many times, we all get caught up in our own little world and forget to take time to just sit down and have a face-to-face conversation with a friend...or we don't take the time to pick up the phone and have a chat.

I know. In this age of instant communication, it is easier to send a text message or an email or do an update status on facebook. Call me Guilty!

So unbeknown to me, one of the readings for Mass (in the Catholic Church) this weekend is about laying down your life for a friend. (In case you're wondering, I went to Mass tonight to fulfill my Sunday obligation so that is how I know about the readings.) Now, I'm hoping that you really don't have to lay down your life for a friend but what WOULD you do for friend? If there are strings attached, is it really a friendship? Just askin'.

So, I'm gonna suggest that you make an effort to get in touch with a friend and not via email or text message or facebook...and just check-in. And I will leave you with one of my all time favorite Pet Shop Boys songs (...cause we were never being boring. We had too much time to find for ourselves. And we were never being boring. We dressed up and fought, then thought: make amends. And we were never holding back or worried that time would come to an end. We were always hoping that, looking back you could always rely on a friend.) Click here to view the video.

I'm Peeing In My Pants...

...'cause I'm so excited! I was just on Facebook again for the first time today and FB Friend Mike posted a link to YouTube of Pet Shop Boys at the BRIT Awards. You see...

they were awarded Outstanding Contribution To Music.


Aficionados of Str8 Up With A Twist know that I am a HUGE fan of Pet Shop Boys...or as cool people like me call them, PSB. To top it off, Lady Gaga also performed with them. She has become my new favorite artist.

At the awards show, they did a medley of some of their many songs and of course they hit on some of my favorites.

Suburbia always reminds me of when Calvin lived with Stuart. When I would drive to Sugar Land (TX), to get Calvin or to return Calvin to Stuart, I would find myself humming Suburbia, especially, "Let's take a ride along with the dogs tonight, in suburbia..."

West End Girls takes me back to 1984 when I was driving north on I-35 from Waco (TX) back to Ft. Worth (TX). It was a beautiful Spring day and on the radio West End Girls was playing. There was a convertible traveling next to me and the occupants in the car were listening to same station and they were singing along and waving their hands in the air like you don't care. To me West End Girls is a timeless song.

What Have I Done To Deserve This? is one of my favorites because Dusty Springfield recorded the song with them. Dusty's voice was the perfect complement to the song. My favorite part of the lyrics: "Since you went away I've been hanging around I've been wondering why Im feeling down? You went away, it should make me feel better but I dont know, oh. How I'm gonna get through? How I'm gonna get through."

Another song in their medley is Being Boring. If I could pick one song that sums up how I feel about life and my friends, this is the song, "'cause we were never being boring. We had too much time to find for ourselves. And we were never being boring. We dressed up and fought, then thought: make amends. And we were never holding back or worried that time would come to an end. We were always hoping that, looking back you could always rely on a friend."

It's because of these songs and so many of their other songs that I can understand why and highly applaud the award they were given! Hey, Neil and Chris...if you're reading this, CONGRATULATIONS from this side of the pond!!! Well deserved.

Losing My Mind

On Friday, I was having a hellacious day at work and had to hand-deliver a proposal and then get to FEDEX to make sure collateral material for another proposal got shipped out.

To get this done I gambled and jumped on a freeway...in Houston...on a beautiful Friday afternoon. I can hear the murmurs right now, "What were YOU thinkin'?" I was hoping to get the errands completed so that I could eat lunch at 4:00p.m..

So while I'm stuck in traffic, I'm listening to cds and not really paying attention because I'm thinking how much I hate Fridays. It seems that all hell breaks loose at work on Friday and today was no different. And I'm thinking I'm losing my mind and guess what? Losing My Mind starts to play! Is this God's way of saying, "You're losing your mind." And if so, I thought God would strike me with a bolt of lightning to get my attention. Who knew He would send me a message through a cd player and the message would be delivered by Liza Minnelli and The Pet Shop Boys? I must ask once again, "Who knew?"

I Feel Like Taking All My Clothes Off

and dancing to the rite of Spring. And I normally wouldn't do this kind of thing.

Today is the first full day Spring. According to the Pet Shop Boys we should all dance to the rite of Spring. I think it might be some sort of pagan thing but who cares? Take off your clothes. Run around the backyard. Dance like no one is watching...or dance like someone is watching. Maybe they'll join in!?!?

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 14.0

Blah
That's how I feel this week.

The week got off to a rough start and it has zapped my energy. A couple of friends have had some things happen within their family and it has really put me down in the dumps. All I can really do is keep them in my thoughts and prayers.

Calvin hasn't been feeling too good. He is on the rebound but I feel like I'm constantly watching him to make sure he is OK.

I'm VERY frustrated with this job search.

I've had some bad runs this week and haven't been working out.

And I'm humming this!



and this is how I feel!



BTW. Pet Shop Boys produced this song for Liza. When PSB did their own recording they put in a maniacal laugh in it. When Liza recorded it she didn't want to include the laugh. Interesting huh?

Squirrel
On Tuesday, I posted a pic of a dead squirrel in conjunction with birthday greetings to KIM. Well, here's the rest of the story.

First of all, I thought KIM's birthday was later in the month but his Facebook profile said his birthday was on Tuesday. So, figuring that I had lost more of my memory I assumed that Facebook was correct since KIM created his own profile. Turns out KIM's birthday is on the 25th.

Now about the squirrel. A few months ago The Calvinator and I were out for a noon day stroll and we found a dead squirrel just laying in the grass. It didn't have any tire marks on it but maybe it got hit by a car, made its way over to the grass and then died. Maybe, as suggested by by Free Flow it died of natural causes.

And why did The Calvinator want to give this present to KIM? Well, KIM has an ongoing battle with squirrels at his swankienda in East River Oaks (ERO). I'm sure the ERO squirrels are having a blowout party while KIM is in Italia.

Mr. & Miss Mint Julep
Don't forget! Kaye Sedilla makes her final appearance at this event on Sunday. A rumor is circulating about the diva. I will ask her about it when I see her this weekend. Check this blog on Monday for more details.

Reality TV

Many of you know that I'm hooked on reality shows. This has been a good week to feed my addiction.

Big Brother premiered on Sunday and Project Runway premiered last night.

For the first time since season 3, Big Brother has decided to return to its roots and has put contestants in the house who don't know each other. Although viewership is down from previous seasons, I will say that I'm liking this season already. Good eye candy and they've already booted out the self-proclaimed puppet master. There is a quirky lady from New Orleans (is that an oxymoron?) that could be fun if she can calm it down and not be so annoying.

I was bit bored with the designs from the contestants on Project Runway. This was their first challenge and several of them used table clothes for their dresses. Creative? I think not.

Kelli won the challenge mainly because she used some creative techniques on the materials purchased at the grocery store.

Jerry lost because he had an awful creation. Yes. It looked like something from a horror movie when the ax murderer has escaped from the insane asylum and is chasing you.

Let's hope they get a bit more creative with their designs.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 10.3

Belated Happy Birthday!
Last week was Sugar Land Stuart's birthday. I did call to send him birthday greetings. I just didn't get around to doing it on the blog.

I met Stuart in 2003. Stuart was Calvin's 2nd owner. He adopted Calvin from Citizens For Animal Protection. Here is a pic of Stuart and Calvin.

Today's Birthday Greetings
Today is the first full day of Spring which means it is AttyHou's birthday! I met Jim through mutual friends but it wasn't until one night in Galveston that we bonded and became good friends. You see...

I was sitting in a second story window of a bar in Galveston and I had Mardi Gras beads. I was giving the beads away and Jim joined me. That was the beginning of the friendship.

Jim and I lived together for a few years. It was during that time that we both trained for our first marathon. I think one of my funniest running memories is the 1997 Heights Fun Run.

We had gone out to eat (Mexican food) the night before and after dinner we went out for a few more cocktails AND Tequila shots. So here it is the next morning. It's June. It's hot. It's humid and we're there to run a race. That has to be one of the most painful 5ks I have ever run. What were we thinking???!!!

There are many good stories to tell about Jim; too many to tell. Let's just say that I am very fortunate to have him in my life and I wish everyone could have an AttyHou in their life.

I've posted this pic before and here it is again. It is one of my favorite photos. We are in NYC in 2001. AttyHou is in blue.

First Day of Spring
So AttyHou's birthday always makes me sing & hum a Pet Shop Boys song. Can you guess which one?

Well...part of the lyrics are: "I feel like taking all my clothes off. Dancing to the Rite of Spring..."


Fitness Activities
OK...so I'm trying to get back into the groove. I've started running again and doing weights. Haven't added spinning back to the routine. I'm feeling much better and getting active again is making me feel better.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 9.6

Last Night
I went to a party last night for supporters of Equality Texas. It was at a hacienda in River Oaks and it was a very nice evening. This event was competing with a Hillary rally but it was still a good turnout.

Many familiar faces and friends in the crowd including Str8 Up With A Twist readers: Kenny In Montrose, AttyFrank, Steve In Montrose, & Timbergrove Shane. The Mesteller-Reeves entourage was en masse which is always fun. Fellow Legacy Board members were there as well as a couple of politicos (Ellen Cohen & Garnet Coleman). And of course The Most Handsome Man In Houston was there (a title that was bestowed upon him by me and AttyHou a few years ago).

The wine flowed freely and the more freely it poured the more lively the conversations. At some point, most of my (scott) Mesteller conversations get around to Pet Shop Boys (PSB)...and it happened again last night. It had actually started in the car with Upper Kirby Steven when we were listening to Losing My Mind and once again I brought up the Liza version. We agreed it is a bit creepy.

So as I'm reliving the pre-defensive driving Screwdriver cocktails story with (scott) Mesteller it turns out that Upper Kirby Steven is a big PSB fan too! We're everywhere I tell ya. I'm willing to bet we're 10% of the population. It was a very fun evening.

February 29
from Time and Date
A leap year is a year in which one extra day has been inserted, or intercalated, at the end of February. A leap year consists of 366 days, whereas other years, called common years, have 365 days.

Trail Rides
Today, my little corner of NoRO will have horses and chuck wagons coming through it. I'm not kidding ya folks. It will start around 12 noon.

Of the 12 trail rides, 3 will almost be at my doorstep and as much as I enjoy seeing the contrast of the Old West to Modern Houston, it messes up traffic. At least I'll be prepared for it this year and won't try to be out and about.

The Calvinator doesn't like horses so I won't be taking him to watch. Listed below is information about the history of the trail rides. The three in blue are the three that will almost be at my doorstep. And when you look at the distance that some of these people have traveled, well, I'm just thinking sore butts.

And then tomorrow morning, all of them will leave Memorial Park and go to downtown for the parade. We're talking LOTS of horses.

from Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo
Nothing brings to mind the Old West like a modern-day trail ride. Pioneers created trails as they moved west in search of a dream and cowboys created trails to take cattle to major market centers. While these routes are no longer a necessity in daily life, more than 4,000 riders saddle up each February to relive the Old West as part of 13 trail rides leading to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™.

In January of 1952, several men formed the very first trail ride as a way to increase awareness of the Show. Though only four men made the first journey from Brenham, Texas, the attention they raised attracted more publicity than ever expected, as more than 80 men signed up the next year. The trail rides are a signature tradition of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo today.

Today’s riders hit the trail in an attempt to recreate the Old West, and in doing so, find a common ground that links us all to the Show. A sense of history and pride resides in each rider; igniting envy and intrigue in each child as they watch the trail riders and hope to one day join them.

• Los Vaqueros Rio Grande from Reynosa, Mexico (386 miles)


• The Mission Trail from San Antonio (235)


• Northeastern from Beaumont (108 miles)


• Old Spanish Trail from Logans Port, Louisiana (216 miles)


• Prairie View from Sunnyside (107 miles)


• Salt Grass from Cat Springs (90 miles)


• Sam Houston from Montgomery (70 miles)


• Southwest from Sargent (102 miles)


• Spanish Trail from Coldsprings (126 miles)


• Texas Cattlemans from Anderson (85 miles)


• Texas Independence from Brazoria (98 miles)


• Valley Lodge from Brookshire (71 miles)

Yesterday I was still feeling a bit caddywampus when I woke up. I did make it to the park for a run but then I couldn't find my keys. I had the little clicker thing but I didn't have the actual key chain (I always carry the clicker thing with me when I run but leave keys in the car). I tore up the car looking for the keys, went to the Tennis Center to see if anyone had turned them in, went back to the car and finally found them.

I decided to clean up there at the Tennis Center and when I went back to the car I realized I had left one of the car doors wide open. Is that behaviour typical of a sane person?

That incident plus a few other incidents made me start singing the Sondheim song, Losing My Mind. I actually like the Pet Shop Boys version with Liza. (You will notice that in this live version and the recorded version she doesn't do the haunting laugh-scream. There's a story behind it but I can't remember it right now. PSB uses it in their version.) Enjoy!

Boring People

"Under pressure, people admit to murder, setting fire to the village church or robbing a bank, but never to being bores.” –Elsa Maxwell

Elsa Maxwell (b. May 24, 1883, Keokuk, Iowa - d. November 1, 1963, New York City) was an American gossip columnist and author, songwriter and professional hostess whose parties for royalty and the high society figures of her day earned her the title of "the hostess with the mostest". Maxwell is credited with the invention of the scavenger hunt and treasure hunt for use as party games in the modern era. (from quotesup.com)

You may be wondering what this is about. Sit tight and I'll go into more detail in a future post. What I will tell you right now is that while I was doing some research, I ran across some quotes and information about Elsa Maxwell. That quote (above) in turn made me start humming one of my all time favorite songs Being Boring by Pet Shop Boys. Enjoy.

So one of the new cds that I purchased is Disco 4. It is a Pet Shop Boys cd. They have taken some of their songs and songs of other artists and remixed them.

I'm hooked on Sorry [Pet Shop Boys Maxi-Mix]. It is a remix of Madonna's song. OK. Look at the equation. Pet Shop Boys + Madonna = gay orgasm. I play it really loud in The Cal Mobile when he's not traveling with me.

And speaking of Pet Shop Boys. Yesterday when I was working out I decided to have a Pet Shop Boys kind of morning. The one song that always makes me laugh and is rather appropriate for tonight's festivities is You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk.

I'm trying to decide if I should do a year end post: a recap is what I'm thinking. If I do, I'm not sure what to include. Hmmm...

The Sky Is Falling

So the first part of today did not go as planned. Here was the plan:

1. Get up early and do a 5 mile run

2. Shower and clean up

3. Take The Calvinator to doggy daycare

4. Go to the office and read the newspaper

5. Head west on I-10 to suburbia to check out a store for my paper supply

6. Meander back inside the loop (ITL) and have lunch

Here's how it played out:

At 3:57A CDT, I was awakened by loud claps of thunder, lightning and rain. I wasn't sure how long the storm was going to last but I knew it was going to prevent me from getting out to the park by 500A. I guess at some point I turned off the alarm.

I got out of bed around 530A or so and it had stopped raining. Anthony Yanez at your education station informed me that the tropical disturbance is now Tropical Storm Erin. Erin will make landfall on Thursday between Corpus Christi and Brownsville. Galveston-Houston will be getting rain and storms. This morning was just a preview.

OK. Not to sound like Chicken Little but Tropical Storm Dean will probably make its way into the Gulf and not dog leg and go north. This storm will probably be a hurricane in a few days. UGH.

Satellite image from this morning. TS Erin is on the left and TS Dean is on the right (east of the Lesser Antilles.)

We went for our walk and while we were walking I started the debate in my head about running today. So I decided to take The Calvinator to doggy daycare and then go running.

OY! It was a 3 mile three sweater run. The park was wet (duh!) and the sun was peaking through so the temp was rising along with the humidity level. It honestly felt like I was wearing three sweaters and pallet of bricks.

I cleaned up and went to the office. By now I'm thinking that the traffic in suburbia should be OK so I did a quick read of the newspaper and headed west.

On my way to the store, I saw a mega-Garden Ridge so I stopped in and boy did I get thrown for a loop! The first thing that greeted me was rows and rows of Christmas trees and decorations. I'm sorry but mind isn't even thinking about Labor Day and I see Christmas trees. It honestly started to make me dizzy. So I left. On the way out I did see Halloween decorations.
To make myself feel better I went to Panera. I was still a bit overwhelmed by the Christmas trees so I ordered a Frozen Green Tea (with whipped cream)...Largo. I figured Largo went with Large Asso. Just put the whipped cream on both of my thighs. I took two Asiago bagels with me for future meals.




I made it to Archivers. The entire time I was on this trek I kept humming Suburbia by Pet Shop Boys. I'm not being critical but I will say that I didn't fit in with most of the people in 281 that I saw today. As Sugar Land Stuart has repeatedly told me, I'm too urban. (I take that as a compliment.)

At this point I wasn't sure what traffic was going to be like heading back ITL. I really wanted to go to Kohls 'cause I've never been to one but I didn't want to chance the traffic with all of the construction on I-10.

Made it back ITL and got to St. Anne's in time for the 12:00P Mass. The church was full which really surprised me. For the non-Catholic readers, today is a Holy Day of Obligation. This means we are obliged to attend Mass and celebrate The Feast of the Assumption.

from Catholic Encyclopedia:
This feast has a double object: (1) the happy departure of Mary from this life; (2) the assumption of her body into heaven. It is the principal feast of the Blessed Virgin.

Other than some web surfing, I don't have much else planned for the day. I was at LeFittes yesterday to do weights so I won't be going there this evening.