What A Croc!

Let me first state these facts:

1) I *heart* Tim Gunn

2) I *heart* LoneStarSteve

One of the good things about *hearting* people is that you can agree to disagree and not be offended when comments are made about your attire; just so long as they are willing to accept criticism about their attire.

Tim became popular during the first season of Project Runway. Along with super model Heidi Klum, designer Michael Kors and Nina Garcia Fashion Editor for ELLE Magazine (you have say Nina's name and title all in one breath and with a German accent like Heidi Klum otherwise it doesn't work), Tim offered their opinions about the designers' creations. "Make it work." and "Carry on." are Tim's signature phrases. He is quite eloquent when he speaks and I would love to have dinner and cocktails with him one night and watch him cut loose.

The other day, the Houston Chronicle published a Q & A with Tim Gunn. There were two things that I had to read twice because I just don't agree with Tim:

Q.: What fashion trend should never come back?
A.: Crocs. They're just appalling.

Q.: What's the least fashionable item in your closet?
A.: A pair of cargo shorts.

WHAT????!!!!

I *heart* my Crocs! They are so comfortable. They're great for walking The Calvinator in the rain. They're great for slipping on to run some errands. They're great for slipping on before and after a run so that I don't have to wear dirty running shoes in the car. They're great for wearing to the Spin Room so that I don't have to walk (and sound like I'm tap dancing on the gym floor and who knows WHAT would happen if I was heard tapping in the locker room...thanx Larry Craig) in the cycling shoes.

So I send LoneStarSteve (another Tim Gunn aficionado) an e-mail about how I disagree with Tim Gunn's opinion of the Crocs. In part, this is what HE says...

...all i can remember thinking was: they need to collect up all of those 'alleged' shoes and burn them in a big pile. and then they need to destroy the original molds so that no more can be produced.

You win some and you lose some.

Here are my Crocs.

And I don't know how many pairs of cargo shorts I have but they're quite handy when you have to carry around different gadgets. They're much more accepted than a man purse.

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Weekend Plans

I was supposed to go on a road trip this weekend but that has been delayed until later in the month. Nothing wrong with being flexible with your plans, right?

Will definitely get up tomorrow morning and do a 7 or 8 mile run. Putz around during the day and then do dinner with some friends.

Sunday will probably consist of my normal Sunday morning routine and then I'll catch the matinee performance of Whistle Down The Wind and then attend an evening Mass at St. Anne's, St. Theresa's or St. Michael's.

CORRECTION on 9/9/07: I found out this morning that the show starts it previews today and actually opens on 9/13/07.

SIDEBAR: When I purchased my ticket for Whistle Down The Wind, I didn't realize that the national tour is starting here in Houston and the 200P performance will be their first performance. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

When Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? The Musical premiered here in Houston, I was there on opening night and it was uh...hmmm...pretty bad. A stage hand got caught on stage and stayed there through the scene. Some of the props didn't work. Cues were missed. And we were laughing at parts that I later found out weren't supposed to be funny. Plus parts of the story didn't make any sense.

I thought it was a campy musical...the director, the producer, the lyricist and everyone else associated with the production had other thoughts. If memory serves me well, it never made it to Broadway.

Oh no you didn't!

Sometimes I feel invisible. Invisible that is...not invincible.

For instance, one day when I was out running errands people kept bumping into me or cutting me off while driving. I actually had to look in the mirror to make sure I still existed (and I HATE looking in mirrors). It's happened again several times but this morning something happened that just irked the beejeezus outta me.

I got to Memorial Park a bit later than planned so most of the early risers had already been there and left. There were still a few people out running (and of course Yoga Boi was still there doing his thing) so it's not like it was crowded or anything.

I was a bit over 2 1/2 miles into my 3 mile jaunt, listening to Robin S.'s Midnight on the iPod nano and wondering why I put on the wrong pair of shoes (this pair is a bit worn and I could feel it in my right knee) and a guy decides to try and pass me.

OK. I will say that he did pass on the left so I had no problem with that but what I had a HUGE problem with is that rather than pass me, he ran next to me and then was trying to push me off the trail. His right elbow bumped my left elbow so he knew I was there and he just kept coming over! It was like Zola Budd and Mary Decker all over again!

In a split second I looked back to see if there is anyone behind us that he is trying to get out of their way and the coast is clear. I also look forward and there isn't anyone within foreseeable distance that he would collide with so there was NO reason for him to be in my space and to be elbowing me! So you know what? I elbowed him back and gave him a dirty look...which he didn't see. So he takes his happy @ss, speeds up and gets going.

I had to make a decision. Do I speed up and kick his @ss? Do I just let it go? Do I write about it? Well considering that he was bigger than me and had many more muscles, I figured I would just write about it.

I don't get it! I know that he had to see me because he came from behind which means that before he did the elbow thing, I was in front of him.

URGGHHHHHHH!

However, speaking of invincible...

A year ago today I was at a sales meeting for my former place of employment. On the agenda for the afternoon was "team building." *sigh* I know. There is no "I" in team...blah, blah, blah. So fast forward through the team building and now they tell us that we have to break a board with our hand. At least we didn't have to do it with our head.

Considering that the previous year they had us in the ocean doing things that could get us killed, I guess my anxiety should have been low. After all, a broken hand versus drowning is a small price to pay for being a "team player." Nonetheless, with hundreds of people watching and cheering and clapping you don't want to be the one who can't break the board, right? Plus, I'm not the most butch person around so the odds were not in my favor.

So I get in line and this is when I have to remind myself that it is definitely a case of mind over matter. "If you can dream it, you can achieve it." blah, blah, blah

It is now my turn. There is a guy holding the board. I stare at the board, measure the distance that need for my hand to make contact, step back and...

on the first attempt I broke the board.

This is definitely one of those things I thought I would never be able to do. And yes, I still have the board.

Trust me, there have been times when I have been running when I have thought that I couldn't finish and I have reminded myself that if I can break a board with my hand, I can finish the run.

Now if I could just get that Helen Reddy song outta my head!

¡Feliz Cumpleaños!

Birthday greetings go out to Ft. Worth Joey! Joey is married to my sister. I've known Joey for a long time. We were in grade school and high school together. He claims to be a dog whisperer but considering that the dogs get away from him I would say that he needs to stick with his day job. ;-)

Running On Empty

I was in bed by 900P last night. Even though I slept most of the day, I had no problema going to sleep last night.

I was waking up every 2-3 hours or so to pee. You see, I was afraid that I would dehydrate so I drank plenty of fluids. Many bottles of Gatorade, some water and a Sprite. My pee was so clear I could have read War & Peace through it.

SIDEBAR: Runners know when they are well hydrated by looking at the color of their pee. If it is dark, you are dehydrated.

The only food that I consumed yesterday was some chicken & rice soup for lunch and 1/2 a turkey sandwich for dinner. That was it!

So this morning I woke up and felt good enough to go for a jaunt around the park. I finished 3 miles but it wasn't one of my best runs. My fuel tank was empty and I didn't have much energy. The KWs were doing speed work and I was eating their dust.

Hopefully, I'll be able to consume more food today and get the energy level up.

Ellie Mae

In a previous post, I mentioned the amount of severe thunderstorms that we seem to be getting in NoRO. I'll say it again, I think Mother Nature is upset with the way trees have been cut and green space taken away to make way for new development.

One of the things that I have noticed is the amount of critters that seem to hang out in the yard. You see, on this block of Roy St. I am one of two houses with a front and back yard. There's a house further down that only has a front yard. Everything else is town homes. The bois next door have a backyard but it is a swimming pool.

The critters have no place to roam so they come to my yard at night to play. And trust me, it upsets The Calvinator. He is part Wheaten Terrier so that sniff-out-the-rodent instinct is very prevalent.

SIDEBAR: Did you know that the word terrier comes from the word terra?

So in addition to the cats, raccoons and opossums that frolic in the yard, we now have a cotton tail rabbit that comes over to hang out. Calvin watches all of this from the front window. He actually jumps up and down like a little kid and then he yelps and shrieks. It actually scares off some of the little critters.

All of this makes me think of Ellie Mae and her critters. Anybody want some vittles?

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

In other news...

• I don't feel good. I didn't sleep well last night. My stomach bothered me all night and here it is around 700P and I'm finally feeling OK. I haven't even read the paper today. I finally jumped in the shower about an hour ago.


• Today in hurricane history...for the first time in recorded history, two hurricanes made landfall on the same day. Hurricane Felix made landfall in Central America and Hurricane Henriette made landfall in Baja.

Hurricane Felix

Hurricane Henriette

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 4.0

Stormy Weather

Yesterday was wet. There's no other way to describe it. The day started off dry but we were warned it would rain.

Mid-morning I not only ventured OTL (Outside The Loop), I went OTB (Outside The Beltway)! I needed to check out a place in Missouri City to see if they had some paper that I was looking for.

Found it on Google but instinct told me there was a better way to get there. I went with Google...instinct was correct. I took a different way back ITL (Inside The Loop), ran a few errands and tried to get home before it rained. I wasn't successful.

Storm clouds coming in from the Gulf. Photo taken on Hwy. 6...somewhere in Ft. Bound County.

On Hwy. 6 heading toward US 59. The sun was shining but it was raining on me.

In RO @ Kirby & San Felipe looking west trying to get to NoRO.

@ the RO and NoRO border; Shepherd @ Memorial heading northWindshield wipers were on high speed.

Merman (and I don't mean Ethel)

Last week, Everyday Italian and AttyHou returned from their holiday. Due to Hurricane Dean, they made a detour to Key West. As they were strolling the streets they saw a large version of a merman and thought of me. Turns out, the store had the ornament for sell. So my souvenir is Mr. Martini.

They told me to put it on my Christmas tree. Why wait? I think it needs to go on permanent display.

Bois Night

I think there might have been a tsetse fly that was hanging out with those fire ants on Sunday. I took a 2 hour nap yesterday afternoon. Something about the pitter-patter of rain makes me drowsy.

AttyHou called around 530P and woke me up to find out if I still wanted to go to Cafe A-Do-Me. An hour later, The Calvinator had been walked, I had showered and we were on our way with RRTStephen & RRTJohn.

It had been awhile since I had been to Cafe A-Do-Me on a Monday night. The usual suspects were there. Nice to know that some things don't change. ;-)

We had great conversation with our libations and food. I think I ate too many tortilla chips 'cause I couldn't finish my meal.

A fun time was had by all.

Labor Day

Labor Day is one of those holidays that emits mixed emotions from me. The holiday was created to recognize the workers of America. Because my birthday is so close to the holiday, I used to think it was also a day to recognize the mothers in America...going through labor and all before giving birth. :-) For many people it also marks the end of summer and the last day to wear white shoes and linen attire.

My first recollection of Labor Day was when I was five years old. You see, school started about the 3rd week in August and because I wasn't six years old, I wasn't old enough to start school. However, the nuns decided to give me a test to see if I had the skills to start school at the age of five. Puhleeeeze! My sixth birthday was just going to be a few weeks later.

Anywho, I passed the test. There were a few others in my first grade class that were in the same predicament. Turns out, three of us went through 12 years of school together and of the three of us, two of us also graduated from college together...yep, sixteen years of being together.

OK. So back to Labor Day. So here we are a couple of weeks into school and now we get a day off. I didn't like 1st grade so I welcomed the holiday but I also dreaded going back. This dread continued all through my school years.

I also associate Labor Day with Jerry Lewis and the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. This isn't meant to sound mean but it always bothered me that he would trot the kids out on his show and pull at the heartstrings of Americans to donate money. And then he would end the show by singing You'll Never Walk Alone. Most of the time he couldn't finish the song and would have to leave the stage. I would sit there and wonder if this was going to be the year he could actually finish the song?

I also used to associate Labor Day with the start of the new television season! The season premiers started the first week in September; that has since changed.

And speaking of things changing, the Miss America Pageant is no longer held during the week of Labor Day. Like clockwork you could always count on the new Miss America being crowned the Saturday after Labor Day. And just as you can bet on the sun rising, you could bet on me sitting in front of the telly waiting to see who would be crowned the new Miss America.

SIDEBAR: The pageant was actually started as a gimmick to keep tourists in Atlantic City on the Boardwalk for a few extra days. At some point they moved it to later in September and then to a completely different month.

As time went on and I became a laborer, I did appreciate the holiday. For a few years, I would venture over to New Orleans for the festivities. I haven't done that in awhile.

At my former place of employment we would have the annual sales meeting starting the day after Labor Day. Once again, I started to dread the holiday because that meant I had to spend all day Monday getting ready to be gone for the rest of the week. Then when I took ownership of Calvin, it meant that I had to figure out what to do with him before I left for the week.

So this Labor Day is sorta odd because I have no feelings about it. I have The Calvinator by my side and I don't have to worry about what to do with him.

RunnerOne wanted to go for a run this morning. At first I was going to say "No" because it was a holiday but then I remembered that all summer has been a holiday for me. :-) I also almost said "No" because I thought about doing a 5K today. I had read on Will Run For Martinis and Run 4 Your Life" that they were doing the 5K and since I already feel like a slacker I thought the 5K might be a good motivator.

As it turns out, we did a good 3 miles this morning at Memorial Park. It was quiet. I stopped by the office and read the paper. Because I got out of bed this morning and went running, I rewarded myself with a chocolate donut. LOL

Not sure what is in store for the rest of the day. It is supposed to rain later...go figure...so I'll probably plan some indoor chores for this afternoon.

Take care and enjoy your day.