Some days ...

Good grief! Have you evr had one of THESE sorts of days?

Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas

This is the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas. It doesn't look lik much on the outside ... or the insde ... but this where Dr. Pepper was bottled when the concern went commercial way back when. Of course times have moved on, machinery become more sophisticated, and corporate realities require FAR bigger building, BUT this is still something to stop by and see. The best part of the museum tour may be the ice cream and soda parlor on the first floor. Ask fo a Dr. Pepper milk shake. They'll put heaps of ice cream into a metal cup. Then they'll add a spalsh of milk. Next will come a super big shot of Dr. Pepper syrup - yep, the same stuff the add soda water to make Dr. Pepper that everyone knows and loves. Then they'll put all the ingredients into a mixer and blend until it's creamy and smooth. They'll put it into a large cup and hand you a straw, but it's best to scoop it up with a spoon. It's THAT good!

They'll let ANYONE drive these days!

Hey! Share the road buddy!!!

Sheba in the Storm Shelter

Yes, Sheba Kitty, that WAS a tornado!

Schilo's Delicatessen in San Antonio

After hearing so much GOOD being spoken about Schilo's Delicatessen in San Antonio, I decided to give it a try. Schilo's is a little place just off the fabuluous Riverwalk. It's famous for it's ham-heavy split-pea soup. I'm told that the best way to sample the split soup is with a "Polish neighbor" which is deli-speak for a side order of polish sausage. The waitress came took my order and sat a big frosty German beer down beside the silverware. A little while later the food came ...


Yes, an underwhelming presentation. Are looks deceiving??? NO!!! Maybe if my "Polish neighbor" wasn't required to swim for its life ... maybe if even a crumble of ham was visible ... maybe if it didn't vibrate like that when it hit the table ...

I had to ask the waitress what happened. Was someone new in the kitchen? Tears came to her eyes. Yes, the kitchen staff was new and she was a bakery person drafted into waiting tables. I told her that the beer was good and tipped as I left - vowing not to come back until the kitchen staff had actually learned the recipe that I'd heard so much about.

In Lotus land and loving it!

Just one of those kinds of days!

Dog Taunting

Sheba, my naughty kitty has a new hobby ...

Bread al-Carbon

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Top of the World!

I'm back!

To My Newest & Most Avid Reader ...

Yes, you're a douchebag for all the ridiculous and stupid, red-neck things you do, say and profess to be true. So, just in case you aren't familiar with what a Douchebag REALLY is ... enjoy this ...

Really Good Beans?

Have you ever seen a pack of something at the store and bought it just to see how it would taste? Here is the experiment of the day ... the Anasazi Bean.

It appears that this colorful, brown and white bean has been around for a very long time. Some say that it has a richer flavor and creamier texture than other beans. One of my favorite beans is the Pinto Bean which makes great refried beans. Also, the pinto tastes great when cooked with some pork, especially ham hocks. Can't wait to get the "ancient heirloom" Anasazi Beans into the pot!

Anyone care for a dish?

Somedays Are This Good

~Magickal Graphics~

I love you, Miss Sunshine!

Rain, Rain ... More Rain

So much rain came ... and more is on the way. Do you have enough where you are?

Thought For The Day

A New Path

It's a good thing. Really :-)

Turning Points

Turning points. Interesting things, these “turning points” are. They seek to define the single moment or the one pivotal event which made the eventual outcome of something, well, inevitable. I'm at one now, and it sure as Hell didn't show up on my radar until I got some bad news that really shook me right down to my roots. The worst of it is yet to come though. In a few hours from now, the other shoe will fall.

Turning points. They should go by another name, the Lords of Cruelty. When you experience a realization of just how horrible a situation has become, that's when you know you're at a turning point. That's when it's time for you to wipe the slate clean so you aren't limited by yesterday's plans ... because they just didn't work.

I'm told that now is the time to exert a higher level of self-determination over the weeks ahead if you are willing to make a decision today. But choosing which road to take isn't enough; you must also commit to giving one hundred percent until you accomplish your goal. Sound like good advice? A plan?

I've been away from this blog for quite a while and much has changed in my life in the mean time. I will try to post more often. Thanks for visiting.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Wow! If you haven't been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, you seriously need to visit this place. It's an awesome way to spend an afternoon. While you're there, see the U2 concert. It was fantastic.

I don't have any pictures of the inside of the place because they prohibit photography inside the building.

Hiya! Had to take some time off. A little R&R and a little recovery time too. Thanks for visiting. I appreciate it.

Happy Birthday Courtney

Happy 21st Courtney!


Many Happy Returns.

"Hell" by Robert Olen Butler

It's been a very long time since I reviewed a book on this blog, but there are times when something absolutely MUST be said, wrongs MUST be righted, goodness upheld and a flying drop kick MUST land right on some guy's beezer.

We went to a local bookstore. Pulitzer Prize winning author, Robert Olen Butler, was giving a talk on his newest book, "Hell". These sorts of engagements are almost always fun, if not for the anecdotes, then for the fellowship with another writer. One or both of those is enough to get me to buy the book and give it a try.

One of the things we learned about the story was that Mr. Butler's fourth wife had just ran off with Ted Turner. Yes, THAT Ted Turner. That's why Hell is set in Atlanta. Now, I've been to Atlanta a few times, so I can say with some certainty that Butler's version of Hell is a little different than Dante's or John Milton's - although the sex is the same. It would appear that nowhere is one to actually enjoy it, even by yourself.

Another thing we learned about the book is that there are lots of people in Butler's "Hell" that one would expect to see in Hell. Dick Nixon, Anne Boleyn, and Bill Shakespeare to name a few. There are plenty that one wouldn't as well. The most important thing, it seems, isn't who, but why. Answering the question "Why are you in Hell?" is so important that it appears as a regular segment on the evening news in Hell.

We also learned that Mr. Butler had uncovered some very interesting connections that have occurred in History. Allow me to quote, "There is only one degree of coital separation between JFK and Adolph Hitler." The link? Party girl and Nazi sympathizer/spy, Inga Arvad. The source? Al Gore's unfailingly accurate invention, the Internet. THAT bold statement turned some heads!


Well, with information like that between the covers of "Hell", how could I resist? I bought the book. Had it signed by the author, took it back to my hotel room, and mortgaged an evening reading it.

Have you ever heard the expression "Christ on a bike!"? Have you ever meant it? How about "Christ on Rocket ship escaping Hell with Richard Milhaus Nixon!"? Before you think that "Hell" is SciFi or something, it should be said that they don't actually make it. Turns out that they don't make it because this story so bad it has it's own explosive gravity.

The part that really finished the story for me was a consumptive sex scene that was about as far from "bawdy romp" as the Donner's Party in the Sierra Nevadas was from a dinner table. If you're going to use a severed human penis as an after dinner mint, at least say it with a smile.

The flying drop kick thing in the first paragraph above is paraphrased very loosely from an piece Tom Archdeacon wrote about a professional wrestling event way, way back on Feb 20, 1987 for the Miami News. When I compare that newspaper article to Robert Olen Butler's book "Hell", I can see that the format of the material is different, but not it's subject. A more succinct and gripping telling of Mr. Butler's story could only have been made by sticking your tongue between your lips and blowing though them to produce a loud, sloppy-wet, and flatulent blubbering.

Hell? Yes. "Hell"? No.