As I See It - 03.03.16 - Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?

I was behind these two cars about a block away from The Calvinator's Crib. It's nice to know that I'm surrounded by likeminded folks. And in case you can't read the bumper stickers, there is one for Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

As I See It - 03.01.16 - Super Tuesday

Back in the olden days, or back in my day, Texas held its Democrat and Republican primaries sometime in May. From I what I can tell, Texas joined Super Tuesday in 1988 because it wanted to be a player on the big stage and wanted to have an early voice in the selection of candidates.
And so, this year Super Tuesday was held on March 1. My girl Hillary won Texas and the evening! Here's hoping she makes all the way to The White House!. Oh, and if you want to see all of the results for the evening, click here.

Pic Of The Day - 07.24.14 - I'm Ready For Hillary

Although the next U.S. presidential election isn't in the immediate future, people are hoping that Hillary Clinton will make a run for office.  So...on August 24, a group of us gathered at Sparrow to show our support for Hillary.  And no, she didn't show up but it was a great crowd.

Christina Gorczynski addresses the crowd at Sparrow.

Congratulations!

Today was a busy day and I had hoped to stream the Inauguration of Barack Obama on CNN but by the time I got around to it, their server was overloaded and I couldn't get on to the MSNBC site so I listened to it via CNN radio on the web.

I had rehearsal for the Krewe Ball tonight so I have missed all of the balls.

source: Reuters

On top of everything else I missed Aretha Franklin's hat!

source: Reuters

As many of you know, Obama was not my first choice. I was and still am a Clintonista. During the primaries, I raised HILL! I'm glad there is a place for Hillary in the new cabinet.

I hope that President Obama checks out my blog tonight because I am sending him a high five! I wish you the best and I hope that you are successful in achieving your goals and making a change for us all.

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In other news...

Friend Kathryn was in DC today and I when I called her this morning she answered! She was in front of the Capitol looking at the mass of people and waiting for the ceremony to begin. Can't wait for the pics on Facebook!

I called Friend Lyndon and Friend Chris who live in Arlington, VA. They opted to not fight the crowds and to watch everything on the telly. I asked if they were going to any Balls and Lyndon said they were staying in with the cats. To which I replied, "Oh. You're going to the Fur Ball!" (I crack myself up!)

and then she said...

"You heard me right. Nobody puts baby in the corner."

WTF Wednesday

Last night was not a good night. I had trouble falling asleep. Calvin didn't want to have anything to do with me. Guess he was picking up on my vibes.

So after tossing and turning I finally fell asleep but was up at 4:30 a.m. I putzed around (having trouble with my internet connection), walked Calvin and went to the park for a run.

I'm not in the best of moods and already little things are p!ssing me off. Do I care that Michelle Obama is going to co-host on The View today? Not really. Do I care that it might rain today? Not really. Do I care about much today? Not really.

I've turned off my phone and maybe I'll turn it on later. It's not ringing much these days anyway so why bother.

So while I'm in my bad mood watching a delivery truck block traffic on Memorial Drive, a barista takes his coffee break and two HPD cops come out to talk to him. They ask him what would he have done if Hillary Clinton had won the nomination. He says that if she stole the nomination (whatever Mary!) he would have protested and they probably would have arrested him. So one of the cops says that everyone has the right to free speech and the right to assemble and blah, blah, blah...

I tune them out. The cops leave and the barista who is at least 25 years younger than me says, "blah, blah, blah." He was talking to me and I really wasn't listening. I get the feeling that he is looking at me so I look over and he says, "Are you a Hillary supporter?" I say, "Yes." He says, "Well I didn't mean to offend you." I say, "I wasn't really listening to you and why did you assume I supported Hillary." He says, "You look like you fit the demographic and statistics don't lie do they?" I give a polite fake laugh and went back to my paper.

So I must ask, "WTF was that about?"

Yes It's Over

I'm disappointed. I also sort of have an empty feeling. I'm confused.

I don't expect everyone to understand. I don't expect everyone to agree. What I do want is all of the Hillary Haters to not comment. Is that so wrong?

Hillary officially conceded today. If I remember correctly, she had 17 million votes in the primary. 17 million people supported her and yet she lost. Tactical error for underestimating the power of the caucuses? Probably so.
What I do hope is that Obama doesn't take the 17 million Hill Raisers for granted. There are those who say he doesn't owe us anything. To them I will use the name of Sandra Bernhard's movie, Without You I'm Nothing. She (we) should get a seat at the table.

So let me wallow in my sad emptiness for a bit. And I will leave you with this song.

Ramblings of A Caffeinated Mind 13.0

Hey. Did you notice? 13.0

Significance? This blog is a year old. Yes. 1 year old. Happy Birthday to Str8 Up With A Twist!

While Str8 Up With A Twist was on hiatus for a few days the milestone passed. (BTW...hiatus always makes me think of Hyannis which makes me think of the Kennedy's but more on them later.)

I would like to thank all of you who read this either on a daily basis or on an occasional basis. I didn't set a counter on it until August and then I accidentally deleted in November so I can only assume how many hits I have had.

I looked at what keywords have brought people to this site. This doesn't include those of you who have me booked marked or have used a link from a Comments section or from another blog. Here are some of the top keywords:

attyhou

str8up

erik barajas

ryan korsgard

mardi gras party at rich's

world aids day houston

get into the groove

santa speedo run 2007

last night

Interesting huh?

Spunk

My horoscope for Thursday, June 5 said:

Though you might be serious, you have spunk and resilience. Your sense of humor comes out when dealing with someone you care about deeply. A relationship could go from very serious to simply silly in a few hours.

It made me think of the Mary Tyler Moore show (I believe the first episode):

Lou Grant: You know what? You've got spunk.

Mary Richards: Well, yes...

Lou Grant: I hate spunk.

That always makes me laugh because she thought it was a compliment.

I used to get a daily horoscope sent to me but the service is no longer available. I would forward it to Friend Janet and we would try to figure who it was more applicable to. You see...

Our birthdays are just a few days apart. So we would try to figure it out. I mention this because one day in December of 2003 I received an e-mail that said, "blah, blah, blah and look in the mirror and congratulate yourself on how fabulous you are." It applied to both of us and that is by far the most fabulous horoscope I have ever received!

Flasher on Memorial Drive

I'm Not Fit To Run has been trying to acclimate to running in the heat. I used to be able to run in the heat but then I switched to becoming a morning runner and became accustomed to running in high humidity.

So. Being inspired by I'm Not Fit To Run, I decided to give it the old college try. Wednesday and Thursday I was at the park around 500ish/530ish and let me tell you bois and gurls, it was hot!

According to the Tim-o-meter (LOL I just thought of that), it had to be in the low to mid-90s on both days. And it was WINDY on both days. According to the Tim-0-meter, wind gusts had to be at least 20 m.p.h.

Well, I need to issue an apology to anyone who might have been driving on Memorial Drive. You see...

The wind was catching my running shorts and was causing them to fly every which way. So I'm sure you saw my butt and my kibbles and bit. I was doing my best Marilyn Monroe impression to try and keep them down but it wasn't working. Please don't call the cops. There was nothing I could do.

Quote of the day

Everyday I get an email from Runners World. It is called Daily Kick In The Butt. This morning when I opened the email it hit me right between the eyes.

"I think some of the most celebrated moments in human achievement should be those times when everything is going against a person and they are down in the dumps but they simply choose to get up. That's real greatness!" -Ryan Hall

This is Ryan Hall in Houston setting the U.S. record for 1/2 marathon.

Heights Fun Run

I have not done a 5K fun run in 2008 so tomorrow I will be in The Heights doing The Heights Fun Run.

Some of you may think that is an oxymoron: fun/run. It is a run and it is fun. The thing that I like about it is that it has the feel of a neighborhood party even if it starts at 730 a.m.

There is still time to sign up. For info, click here.

Hillary

I haven't given up on her yet. I still have my sign in the window.

I honestly wish things had worked out differently but it is what it is.

There are people out there who are not pleased that she didn't concede the other night. There are people out there who don't want her on the ticket with Obama.

I'm sure deals are being brokered that we won't know about for awhile and if you're naive enough to think that alliances and deal brokering only happen on Survivor, I've got some $4 bills I'd like to sell to you.

I am a bit perplexed as to why Caroline Kennedy is part of the search team. Don't get me wrong, I like Caroline. Being a quasi-conspiracy theorist, I have some thoughts about what has transpired and what is going to go down. Just remember something. Caroline's dad wasn't too thrilled about having LBJ on the ticket and LBJ was too thrilled about being on the ticket but they both knew it was a winning ticket. I'm just saying...

Clouds

The weather today is a bit odd. Still windy. Still hot. Dark clouds sometimes. Vice President Dick Cheney is in town. Coincidence? I'm just asking.

Hard Candy

For the past couple of weeks I have been sucking on Hard Candy and I think I'm addicted.

I can't stop listening to Give It 2 Me in the car or on the iPod nano. I think I've become one of those people that I despise...you know, they dance and sing at the gym and are oblivious to laughs and stares. THEN, the other morning I woke singing Incredible. And I find that every time I have to be somewhere, I start singing 4 Minutes (you know, like in four minutes I'm gonna save the world whenever I get to wherever I have to be?). WTF is wrong with me? LOL

Well, that sort of catches me up for the past few days. Catch up with you soon!

Stop The Insanity!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything about Barack or Hillary. Afterall, it's been what, six weeks since the last primary? So I was kind of forgetting that there was a primary today in Pennsylvania.

I was reminded this morning when the telly was broadcasting live coverage from polling places in Pennsylvania. I don't know much about Pennsylvania other than the fact that I have spent some time in Philadelphia.

On one trip I had a WONDERFUL stay at the Four Seasons. It was purely by accident that I was booked into that hotel but hey, I didn't complain. Just like I didn't complain about the $5 bag of Peanut M&Ms from the mini-bar.

So anywho, Hillary won the primary tonight. All those bitter people in Pennsylvania who cling to religion and guns got out the vote and raised some Hill. (BTW...the bitter comment are Barack's words and not mine.) Once again, Barack showed that he can't close the deal. So they're marching on to Indiana! I bet Fitnessnerd is creaming in his pants right now.

photo credit: AP

Ya know, this was supposed to have been settled on Super Tuesday, then Texas, then Ohio and then Pennsylvania. It's going to go to the convention and I am just betting that somewhere out there, Susan Powter is screaming "STOP THE INSANITY!"

Speaking of stopping the insanity...did anyone else watch the reunion show of (Desperate) Real Housewives of New York City? LOL OMG! Talk about insanity! LOL

Bravo is infamous for running repeats of its hit shows so I'm gonna being looking for the repeat of the reunion show. As Running My Mass Off pointed out to me via text message, they were all ganging up on each other. There were some obvious contradictions that were discussed on the show. The most blatant was Alex and her husband Simon saying that they're not social climbers when they really are. LOL

And the Countess LuAnn (platter) writing a book about manners but yet she wanted the driver to refer to her as Mrs. _______ (I can't think of her last name) and she didn't shake his hand when she was introduced.

And then Ramona getting up and walking out when they were discussing the nude photos of Alex yet Ramona is the first to dress like a hoochie mama and go out clubbing without her husband.

It's getting late and The Calvinator is passed out in front of the telly. In a few minutes he will awaken, look at me and go to the bedroom. He cracks me up.

Two for the price of one

This is an advertisement for Hogeschool - Universiteit Brussel. From their website:
HUBrussel, as the result of a merger of three Brussels-based colleges and a university, is a multifaceted institute of higher education. It is, however, characterised by a unity of vision and common policies and practices.

Quote of the day

"For everyone here in Ohio and across America who's ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out, and for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you." -Hillary Clinton 3/4/08

I'll remember this the next time I'm having doubts about finishing a marathon.

It ain't over until it's over

Her husband was nicknamed the Comeback Kid. I'm thinking she has nine lives.

I've heard several things last night night and this morning that made me chuckle.

"I wouldn't want to get into a knife fight with the Clintons."

"You play a baseball game with the Clintons and you think you won the game but they're going to be waiting for you in the parking lot."

Person #1: "Have you ever seen a race this close? Right now only 800 votes difference between the two."

Person #2: "Yes. Florida. 537 votes."

Fact or Fiction Tuesday

Fact or Fiction #1:

People still live by the gospel according to Rush Limbaugh?

Fact or Fiction #2:

Republicans are voting in the Democrat Primary today because they think they can help pick a candidate who can lose to John McCain?

Fact or Fiction #3:

Madonna was in another one of my dreams last night?

Here's Hillary on SNL

In case you missed Hillary Clinton on SNL...

...I can't find the video clip yet but Hillary made a guest appearance on Saturday Night Live. The opening skit was another parody of the kid glove treatment Obama has been receiving from the press.

At the end of the skit was an Editorial Response. It was the real Hillary. It was funny.

According to what I heard this morning, the press plane was expecting to see her when they landed last night in Ohio. She was nowhere to be found and then someone realized it was Saturday night.

In other Clinton news, that Chelsea must love Mexican food. She made an appearance last night in Houston at Doneraki. She brought Melanie Griffith with her.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 10.0

WTF Saturday

I'm in a mood and I know, I know, I know...I shouldn't let things bother me but they do. Come on. The Cal Mobile has less than 17,000 miles on it and the transmission goes out? UGH. This morning I barely made it up the Shepherd bridge leaving RO on my way back to NoRO and then I had to coast down it, make a quick left, run a stop sign crossing Durham and get into NoRO. If I stepped on the gas it wouldn't go forward but I could put it in reverse and go 90m.p.h.

So being the creative thinker that I am, I backed into a parking lot, got the vehicle turned around and drove home in reverse...and didn't run over anybody. The dealership was open today so it got towed to the dealership.

I know. In the big scheme of things world peace doesn't depend upon my vehicle running. And other people are dealing with bigger issues but I really didn't need this to happen. So all I can say is WTF?

Trail Rides

As I mentioned yesterday, the Trail Ride came to town. Here are some photos of some them arriving in NoRO yesterday on their way to Memorial Park.

They spent the night there and then made their way to downtown for the parade this morning. Then they turned around and came back to Memorial Park and NoRO.

I went running this morning and all I could see up and down Memorial Drive was horse sh_t. And it smelled like horse sh_t.

When you see horse sh_t up and down Memorial Dr. and when you smell it in your 'hood...well, it must be rodeo time in Houston! Cowboy Up!

March 4

I'm getting anxious. The Republican and Democrat primaries are on Tuesday. My personal opinion is that it's too close to call for Hillary and Obama.

I'm hearing things about Obama that I don't like but I can't confirm all of what I'm hearing so I'm not going to put it out here yet! Although, Kenneth In The 212 was able to confirm something that I had long suspected.

This morning before my Cal Mobile problems, Ugly Betty (aka America Ferrera) spoke to me twice through the radio. She was reminding us Texas Latinos of our strong ties to the Clintons and to get out and vote.

Not only that, we have to vote twice on Tuesday. As Bill Clinton said the other day, "Texas is the only place that you can vote twice and not get in trouble." You see...we have this odd primary/caucus system where 1/3 of the delegates are awarded starting in the precinct caucus. So if you want to have a say in how the delegates are awarded you have to go back around 700p (and if you support Obama you can go back at 1000p LOL). Then you sign in and caucus with the Hillary supporters and I'm not sure what happens after that because I have never done this.

This is the first time that I can remember (and no I'm not going to say something like Michelle Obama about this is the first time I'm proud to be an American because well, that got HER in hot water) that I actually care about the caucus part of the voting. I think it is because it really matters this time and it matters enough to me to go back at 700p and sit there and see what this is all about.

Who knows, maybe by some strange fluke I'll end up at the big convention this summer? I'm sure I could come up with some outlandish costume that could get me on the national telly. Stranger things have happened. The reality is that the delegates that get to go and get drunk are long-time party die hards and all I have to say is you geaux! I'll be happy doing the precinct caucus thingy.

Back to Ugly Betty...

It's going to be VERY interesting to see what happens with the latino-hispanic-mexican-Bill or Billy or Mack or Buddy-vote because the youngsters are getting out and voting this time around and they're leaning toward Obama. So if you're a young latino-hispanic-mexican-Bill or Billy or Mack or Buddy, who gets your vote? I'm sure sus padres, y older hermanos y hermanas and sus abuelos will vote for Hillary. Will you divide la familia? Ay Dios mio!

Mahogany

So yesterday when Bill Clinton was doing his parking lot rally at Fiesta I sort of had a flashback to the movie Mahogany.

Bryan (Billy Dee Williams) was running for office and would do parking lot rallies and campaign at factories. Tracy/Mahogany (Diana Ross) would stand in the crowd and heckle him (it was planned). He is stating his platform and she wants to know what he is going to do for her.

I can't remember exactly what she says to him but it is something like, "My man left me. Can you bring him home?"...or something like that.

I sort of expected Tracy/Mahogany to be in the crowd yesterday and heckle Bill about cheating on his wife. Maybe he is paying his dues for that by showing up in parkling lots of grocery stores?

Hillary Clinton Rally (part 2...Bill arrives)

I swear. Bill Clinton must have some Mexican genes. I know that he is always late but geez he was late today. And I'm sure the rest of the schedule for the day was messed up.

So just as Annise and Sylvia are about to sing and dance for us (and maybe even ask me to get up and help them out) we see the motorcade arrive and the crowd goes wild. Hillary signs everywhere and people are clapping and cheering. And just like that, the SUV that Bill is riding in is right there almost in front of me. And Secret Service agents descend upon us like flies on poop.

Sylvia and Annise are behind the flag exchanging pleasantries with Bill and next thing you know he is on stage.


Bill gave a great speech. It wasn't all about Bill...although he did defend himself at one point when he made reference to things that have been said about the '90s. The three things he talked about: healthcare; the war in Iraq; education. He got me excited and energized.

I know that most of the people there probably were already Hillary supporters. I will say that it was good for me to have someone reiterate her position on these topics.

Bill kept looking in my direction. And no I wasn't wearing a Lewinsky beret. I was wearing some cool sunglasses that always receive positive comments. And I was wearing a baseball cap that had a variation of the U.S. flag.

And I would shake my head in agreement when he was talking. He was preaching to the choir sistah!

He is quite the orator. He hasn't lost his touch. And he still doesn't know when to stop talking. LOL

So he finally finishes and it's time to work the crowd. And then I feel a surge of people coming up from behind me pushing me even closer to the man and now a lady in front of me. OK...so in 9 months, two birth announcements.
As Bill is getting closer, I feel like I'm going to fall over because someone is pushing. I'm trying to hang on to my sign AND take pictures but I'm afraid of falling and taking people down with me.
So I decide I'm not going to shake his hand because I'm actually beginning to panic. There are people pushing their way through to the front...and then I figure out what is part of the situation. There are SS agents moving through the crowd while Bill is in front of us. Well there's no getting out of this crowd.

Here is Bill just as he is getting up to me. I'm still not trying to shake his hand...I'm trying to stay upright and take pics.
So then he comes right over to me and tries to grab my hand (which is not extended) and so in a split second I put down the camera and shake his hand...sort of...it was an awkward handshake.
He went on his way...

And I went and got my free breakfast taco.

I got back to NoRO and put Hillary's sign in a front window.
Hillary is going to be in H-town on Thursday night. I've already made other plans and by the time I get to the venue I'm sure I would end up in the peanut gallery.

Hillary Clinton Rally (part 1...waiting for Bill)

I got to the parking lot of Fiesta Grocery Store a bit later than planned. When I arrived, the news crews were already there waiting to televise and film the rally.

Here is the Fiesta Grocery Store on Kirby near Reliant Stadium.
They roped off the area and when I got there at 740a this was closest I could get to the stage. I mean really. Surely they weren't going to make us stand THAT far away from the stage or were VIPs going to be able to get in front of us.
Around 750a, some men starting taking down the tape that was serving as a barricade and were telling people they could now get closer. Many of you know that I run so as soon as the coast was clear I took off running and so did everyone else.
This was close! I let some shorter people get in front of me. I'm not that tall but there were people shorter than me. As you can see, people were crammed in with their signs. I was so close to the man in front of me, I expect to hear from him in 9 months to announce the birth of our child. Annise Parker, City Controller for Houston was there and working the crowd while we waited for Bill's arrival.

This Secret Service agent kept an eye on us. He wasn't the only one there; he was the most photogenic.

So while we waited for Bill, some mariachis entertained us. The SS agent was not tapping his toes or clapping his hands. He was watching us. The mariachis were very entertaining but where was Bill?

The mariachis played for at least 30+ minutes. I knew most of the songs. I couldn't clap my hands because I was squished into the crowd and I was holding a Hillary sign and I had my camera.
And he continued to watch us. I think he was a bit jealous that he left his maracas at home.

So the mariachis go through the repetoire. People were shouting out songs for them to play. They played La Bamba. They played La Cucaracha. They played Jalisco. They played and played and played but they NEVER played Volver! They left and we continued to wait. Finally Annise takes the stage and tells us that Bill is on his way.

County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia was there to lend her support. She reminded us of what former Governor Ann Richards said about a woman being able to do a man's job and being able to do it wearing high heels.

Bill was still running late and the mariachis had long departed. Annise and Sylvia were about to do a soft shoe routine. While we continued to wait, people would drive by and stare. What was interesting is that the truck drivers and taxi drivers would toot their horns to show their support. The crowd waiting for Bill was very mixed. A good representation of Houston.

Ramblings Of An (un)Caffeinated Mind 9.4

Hmmm

Not sure what got a hold of me yesterday. With the exception of taking The Calvinator out for his mid-day and evening strolls, I pretty much stayed on the couch. I watched Touch Of Pink (cute movie) and Showgirls (not so good movie). I watched some repeats of Make Me A Supermodel. Finally around 330p or so I started feeling like I was coming back to life. I know that if I had gone to the office, a few extra shots of espresso prolly would have given me a kick start but then I would have crashed hard.

I made it to LeFittes and did a lite weight workout. Spent some time in the steam room trying to loosen up some congestion.

Just When You Think You Have Heard It All

Did you know that there is a rock opera about Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan? LOL Yes! The opera is named Tonya and Nancy: The Opera. It premiered the other night in Portland, Oregon. I heard on the telly that Tonya was in the audience and loved it.

Hillary

So while I was laying on the couch, I checked email and there was announcement that Hillary was going to be in Houston. Surely (don't call me Shirley) this was a mistake. The email arrived a few hours before the event and I had just heard she was in Ohio. Then I thought, oh...it's just a rally. Well, one of the talking heads on the telly said that she was really here! UGH! I didn't have anything to wear and I figured it would be over by the time I got there. Oh well. As it turns out, the venue only had room for 400 people and 200 got left in the parking lot trying to get in. That would have been me.

A friend was at the Hyatt the other night when Bill made his appearance at a fundraiser for Hillary. The friend said that Bill hasn't lost his touch. Gave a great speech.

Still haven't talked to anyone who sipped Margaritas with Chelsea the other night. However, if you want to see some pics of Chelsea at Cyclone Anaya's-Midtown, click here. (There are some Obama Rally pics in the mix.)

NoRO Weather

Not to rub it in to anyone south of the Mason Dixon Line or for that matter south of Fort Worth-Dallas but as I'm blogging, I'm sitting outside while The Calvinator runs around and it is 81 degrees Fahrenheit and not a cloud in the sky. Went for a short but difficult run...don't have my mojo...this morning because the weather was too nice not to be outside.

Oscars

For those of you who don't know this, the Academy Awards aka The Oscars are tonight. This is the Gay Super Bowl. Can't say that I have seen any of the movies but I will be watching the telly. Gonna be interesting what with the writers' strike just ending and all. Vanity Fair canceled their party so Madonna and Demi Moore have stepped up to the plate and will throw a bash tonight with an exclusive guest list. I'm sure this party will be in A League Of Its Own. Madge must have known that I couldn't make last minute travel plans so she didn't invite me. No worries Madge. I still love you.