Ramblings of A Caffeinated Mind 8.0

Festivities
So here is brief recap of what has transpired over the past few days.

Saturday night, AttyHou, Everyday Italian and I loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly...uh, I mean, loaded up The Cal Mobile and headed toward the south loop. You see...Barry was having a post-Christmas/pre-New Year party.

When I first moved to Houston and joined EPAH (Executive & Professional Association of Houston), I met Barry and he would throw fun pre-bar run parties. At that time he was living behind the old Briar Patch (in the Med Ctr) so it was real convenient to go to his place and then go to the Briar Patch.

I liked the Briar Patch because:

• it was a piano bar
• for a buck the piano player would play a show tune
• when I walked in I WAS the pretty one

I'm digressing here. So anywho...Barry moved about a year ago (I didn't know that) and he threw a party so we went. It was fun. Cool house but the guest house was even more cool.

Sunday, I met up with Joe & Eric for Mexian food at Los Cucos. I was tempted to partake of a Margarita but considering that I haven't been running as much (and not burning enough calories), I chose not to partake of the beverage. We sat there and laughed and talked about dogs. It was fun.

Monday night I was invited to a couple of parties and chose to go to one. I've never been a big fan of the New Year's Eve hoopla. There have been a few years that I was actually in bed before the stroke of midnight. I think the phrase from The Perfect Year sums it up for me: It's New Year's Eve and hopes are high..." And I think people have high expectations for something magical happening at the stroke of midnight.

So anywho...I went to Mike & PC's fête. It was a crowded; a good crowd nonetheless and many friends were there. It was fun. So at the stroke of midnight we all sang to a dance version of Auld Lang Syne, drank some champagne, exchanged hugs & kisses, expressed salutations and hallucinations and then I went home. I walked in at 12:33a and The Calvinator was waiting for me.

The party was so crowded that I was never able to sit down which as it turns out will bring me good luck. You see...according to London Preppy, it is a Greek tradition to stand up at the stroke of midnight. It will bring you good luck. And that explains 2007!

You see...when 2006 transitioned to 2007, I was already home AND sitting on the couch with The Calvinator.

Tuesday's calendar had a party scheduled for the evening. Once again, I loaded up The Cal Mobile with AttyHou and Everyday Italian and went to a New Year evening party. Mike and Ray always throw a nice soiree.

The house was decorated to the nines. I'm sure that as they were decorating Ray was playing the role of Auntie Mame and singing We Need A Little Christmas.

This party is always fun because it brings together many different circles of friends. They always have wonderful food. They serve an interesting dish...it is made with biscuit dough, jalapenos, cheese and black-eye peas. I HATE black-eye peas but I like them when they are served this way.

In addition to seeing many of my friends, Elaine & Brandon (from Tropical Depression #46) were helping with the party.

Seeing everybody last night was a good way to start the new year!

Running/Weights
I did a weight workout in yesterday afternoon. I was surprised that the gym wasn't crowded. It was actually nice to not have a bunch of people there.

This morning it was cold so I went to LeFittes for a treadmill run. Worked up a really good sweat.

Project Runway
Just a reminder. A new episode of PR premieres tonight. I can feed my addiction.



I found this picture on Pink Is The New Blog. Thought it was funny.




Banished Words List
The wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University are giving back to English speakers everywhere with their 33rd annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.

On Dec. 31, 1975, former LSSU Public Relations Director Bill Rabe and his colleagues cooked up an idea to banish overused words and phrases and issue a list on New Year's Day. Much to the delight of language enthusiasts everywhere, the list has stayed the course into a fourth decade.

This year's list derives from more than 2,000 nominations received through the university's website, www.lssu.edu/banished. Word-watchers target pet peeves from everyday speech, as well as from the news, education, technology, advertising, politics, sports and more. A committee makes a final cut in late December. The list is released on New Year's Day.


the years, some copycat lists have made an appearance, but LSSU's list was first.

This year, in a gesture of humanitarian relief, the committee restores "truthiness," banned on last year's list, to formal use. This comes after comedians and late-night hosts were thrown under the bus and rendered speechless by a nationwide professional writers' strike. The silence is deafening.


In this spirit, LSSU presents its 2008 list, a perfect storm of overused and abused words and phrases that pops organic, to a post-9/11 world decimated by webinars.

It is what it is.


Here is the list:

• Perfect Storm


• Webinar


• Waterboarding


• Organic


• Wordsmith/Wordsmithing


• Author/Authored


• Post 9/11


• Surge


• Give back


• 'BLANK' is the new 'BLANK' or 'X' is the new 'Y'


• Black Friday


• Back in the day


• Random


• Sweet


• Decimate


• Emotional


• Pop


• It is what it is


• Under the bus

For defintions, look at the university's website: http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

I am a frequent user of It is what it is because...it is.

Birthday Greetings

Birthday Greetings go out to The Fabulous Miss Jolie Shay (TFMJS)! I have known TFMJS for 10 years. I met her through The Former Houstonian Greg.

I have many favorite stories about TFMJS. The first time that she helped me move she was amazed at how many shoes and cds I have. What can I say?

TFMJS is from Detroit and doesn't like people telling her how to drive...especially a car full of meauxs. She makes me laugh (and she likes to imitate my laugh!). :-)


This picture is a bit out of focus. It was taken at Tropical Depression #46.

In Other News:

We are having awesome weather today. When I took The Calvinator out for his morning stroll it was a bit cool. In my running dictionary I would define it has perky nipple weather.

I took my happy ass out to Memorial Park this morning for a 7 mile jaunt. It has been a few weeks since I've done 7 and I probably could have done 8 but I didn't want to over do it. And knowing that it was perky nipple weather, I made sure to put on some Band-Aids because I hate bloody nipples.

Will Run For Martinis commented on her blog the other day about the fair weather runners who mob Memorial Park when the weather turns nice. Well, they were out in full force this morning.

Granted, I don't own the park so I can't put up a velvet rope and decide who gets to run so I just deal with it even though today:

1. Some dude elbowed me when he tried to pass me;

2. Some man decided to use me as his pacer (OK folks, I'm not a fast runner so why are you going to use me as your pacer????)

3. There was a lady with her dog (no big deal) BUT she had a frickin' retractable leash and the dog was doing zigzags all over the place. SHE almost tripped on the leash not to mention all of the other people who trying to avoid the frickin' retractable leash.
SIDEBAR: I'm not the Dog Whisperer but if I were I'd use my influence and outlaw retractable leashes. What good are they? It doesn't teach the dog anything. Prior to me taking ownership of The Calvinator he had a retractable leash. I put an end to that but I still had to retrain him to walk with a regular leash. So I bought a $35 bungee leash and after a couple of months he no longer jerked my arm out of its socket and we were able to use a regular leash.

I'm happy to report that Architect Todd was out there this morning. He is training for his first marathon and is KW. AttyHou has kept him in the loop about what happened in Chicago last weekend. Let's hope it doesn't scare him.

Randy in the 019 had a sectional couch to donate to Legacy's Resale Store. After I cleaned up we made a couple of trips and delivered it to the store.

Just as a reminder to everyone, the store can always use donations. So when you're cleaning out your cupboards & closets do not forget about the store. Or, if you're getting new furniture and don't know what to do with the old stuff, give it to the store.

I was getting ready to head over to the art festival when my phone rang. It was Montrose/Midtown David. He treated me to lunch at Otto's. Good burger!

I left Otto's and was heading toward downtown when I realized that I had left my Nike bag at the restaurant. It had my glasses, billfold and some other things in it. On my way back to the restaurant I was praying that it was still there.

I was also hoping that I had paid it forward. You see, last week at Design Within Reach I found a Blackberry and turned it in. On Monday, I found an iPod at Memorial Park and actually found the guy who had lost it. So yes, the bag was there and everything was still in it.

So yes, I made it to the art festival but I'll do a separate post about that once I get the photos ready.

BTW, #17 Kentucky just beat #1 LSU.

Tropical Depression #46 (revisited)

As promised, here are some photos from the party on the 15th. An apology is extended to those people who were not photographed. I had someone lined up to take photos for the evening and a message got to me late in the evening that this person would not be there. A couple of people took my camera and snapped some shots. I think you can tell that a good time was had by all.

For more photos, click here and look for Tropical Depression #46. Also, I guess I should 'splain a couple of things. Everyone was offered strands of beads. I'm a bead wh_re and a founding member of BeadBoys so it only made sense to have beads; long white strands and a dog with a birthday cake. In addition to this, I found a pair of FEMA Trailer beads on ebay.

In the photo gallery are photos of napkins that I used at the party. I'll let you come to your own conclusions.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 4.2

I was actually going to title this post Ramblings Of A Constipated Mind but then I went to eat at JAX Grille and ate a HUGE Chicken Caesar Salad and now I think things might flow like they should.

You've prolly noticed that I haven't been putting much out here. A big part of that is because I was getting ready for Tropical Depression #46. Another part of it is because I feel like I'm having a bit of writer's block and since I can't take a laxative for that I'm not sure what to do. Maybe a Martini or two? And something is really bothering me today so maybe if I write about it and get it off of my mind, that will help.

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After a wonderful Friday evening with Linda Eder, I overslept on Saturday morning. I didn't on the alarm clock and just happened to wake up. I took The Calvinator for his morning stroll and then went over to Memorial Park. I only had time for a 5 mile run which I guess is better than nothing at all. If I had more time, I could have done an additional 2 or 3 miles but I had things to do and people to see.

The good thing about Saturday's run is that I didn't have a case of droopy drawers. The humidity was high but not as high as the previous Saturday so I wasn't sweating as much.

The rest of the day was spent getting ready for Tropical Depression #46. I was up to my eyeballs in Jambalaya. When Jim and I lived together I remember he told me one time, "Nobody makes Jambalaya like you do." Over the years I have received several additional compliments. So when it came time to decide about catering vs. cooking, I opted for cooking.

I couldn't have done the party without Ben's help and Michael's creative eye. Ben made dozens of mini-Po' Boys. We used the Antone's concept of putting Chow-Chow with mayo for the dressing and they were yummy! Ben also created a recipe for Cajun Vegetable Dip. It had a secret ingredient that I won't reveal. And we also served Zapp's Chips and Praline Brownies from Acadian Bakers.

I didn't do a full bar. Guests had the choice of Barefoot Cellars Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay, beer (Bud Light, Abita and O'Doul's), soft drinks (Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite) and a special Tropical Depression #46 frozen drink (Hurricane mix with orange vodka, an umbrella and a cherry). I didn't think I was going to like the TD #46 drink but that sucker was good!

The party was at Legacy's Resale Store. In lieu of a birthday present I asked the guests to consider making a monetary donation to Legacy or to bring an item for the store. Also, some of my guests have been longtime supporters of Legacy and this party was also serving as a thank you for all that you have done type event.

I'm not trying to sound egotistical but it was a fun time. Kenny In Montrose (KIM) wrote this about the party:

In theory the party benefited Legacy Resale Shop but in reality it was just flat out fun. The guests all enjoyed each other so much fun that they stayed until the bitter end.

I'm not sure if you have ever made Jambalaya but it's all about getting the right ingredients in the right proportions. That's sort of how I view the party. It wasn't all about the food and drinks. It was about having a good mix of friends for a good cause and making sure everyone had a good time.

And all of this couldn't have been done without the help of some of Legacy's staff: Alaina, Martha, Phil and Chris.

I haven't had a chance to work on the photos but I'll be getting those on here soon.

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So this is what's bothering me.

This morning I woke up a bit later than usual and didn't get out with The Calvinator until around 645A. We were on our usual morning route and a block away I saw 2 HPD cars and there were cops walking the perimeter of a fenced yard.

When we came back around on the other side of the block there were 3 HPD K-9 units which is never a good sign. Of course, the dogs could see The Calvinator but he couldn't see them and he could hear them in their SUVs so he is going nuts in the middle of the street.

I left Calvin at the house and then went for a 3 mile run at Memorial Park. There was no way I wasn't going to enjoy the low humidity morning!!!

Later in the day when we went for our mid-day stroll I saw a lady near one of the houses on Dickson where the cops had been. Turns out she is the mother of the guy that lives in one of the houses.

This morning around 600A while he was asleep upstairs 2 men broke into his house. When he realized what was happening he called 911. The cops told him that there has been a rash of burglaries in the 'hood and they're happening between 500A-700A. What the f___? People are still home at that hour! Somebody is either cracked out or has a big set of cajones.

If I had awakened at my normal time, we would have been near the house around the time that the break in happened. Awhile back I stopped carrying my cell phone and mace with me on our walks but I guess it's time I start doing it again.

So let's see...leash, poop bag, keys, cell phone, mace...I guess I'll just put Calvin in a wagon and haul him along with everything else. :-) Actually, I normally wear a pair of running shorts or gym shorts so I guess I'll wear cargo shorts instead. I'll designate one pair for Calvin walking.

I thought when I left Montrose and moved to NoRO life would be quiet. Oh well.