"Our Camera...Is..."

...lost! We believe it fell out of my pocket at Pancho's Mexican Buffet. When I went ack up there to see if anyone had found it of course everyone claimed ignorance. Fortunately I had gotten all the pictures off of it except for some really great ones I took of Zach at the park while Emmy and Cari were selling Girl Scout cookies. I guess I will take him back up there and try to recreate them as best I can. Something tells me he won't mind one bit going back there lol.

Good thing Emmy got a camera for Christmas!! She said we could borrow it until we get one. Isn't she nice? Her grandparents took them on a trip to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago and she took some great pix! Here are a few:


A loose cannon on a bolted-down cannon ha ha.


This one is pretty cool in that it gets the state flag just right against the capital building.


Koi! Lots of koi!

Cari and I went and saw Black Swan last Sunday. Here is a trailer!:



Darn creepy. What people will do to achieve their goals...is it worth it? My goal has always been to live comfortably and not stress over anything. Took till I was 33 but I managed to swing it for now. Of course, things change, sometimes overnight, and we're expected to keep up or get buried. I guess that's one good thing about having God in your corner. He tends to keep you focused on what's really important and not get caught up in earthly matters that have to impact on our ultimate goal: Heaven. I'd like to think I'm on the right path. Then I think maybe I'm not so much. Hopefully if not I'll see a sign somewhere.

"Love Me A Four-Day Weekend!"

I think the title says it all yes? I had to use two vacation days because the kids were out of school for the fair and for Columbus Day. And, since I have to...have to...use all my vacation time before 12-31-2010 no better time! And what a weekend we had!:

Friday: Took Zach to his school, then me and Emmy went to Chick Fil A for breakfast, then to my mom's work, then to my work for our picnic which wasn't ready when we got there so we missed out (ugh!), then to McDonald's for lunch, THEN to Zach's school to take him a Happy Meal, then home. I asked Emmy what she wanted to to nxt and she said "Can we just go home and chill?" which I am always okay with.

Saturday: Went to Zach's T-ball game, then to Sam's, then to Emmy's soccer game, then back home where I...I...cooked dinner for us! My famous chicken-fried chicken with some mashed potatoes and steamed zucchini. We didn't eat untl about 8pm but I think it was worth it.

Sunday: Watched the Rangers lose ANOTHER game to Tampa Bay to force a Game 5 in the ALDS. Man, what is it with these Texas teams? The Cowboys embarrased themselves 34-27 to the Titans thanks to lots of Dallas-famous penalties. Did the laundry though.

Monday: The three of us went and took Greendad (my dad) to lunch at Chili's. Well, that's not quite correct. He paid for his lunch. At least this time I paid for the rest of us. Went home and after a couple rounds of Just Dance we went to Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner. MMMMM!!

Sometimes people send me e-mails of cool pictures. I always say I'm going to feature them on here but I never do. Well not this time. Check these pix out:




This is a waterfall reflecting the sunlight at just the right time of the day and it looks like fire is pouring down. Too cool right?




These are some actual pictures taken back in the 1880's and 1890's in North Dakota and Minnesota. When Uncle Dean sent this to me I responsed, "Thanks for sharing with us what it was like when you and Dad were kids." Oh how I slay me.

Lately I've been interested in our world's history. Although much of it was never recorded or written down, a lot of it managed to make its way into our current lives. Every time I watch "Back To The Future" I always wish it were really possible to travel back and be a part of everything. I know if you change even the slightest thing it would change history dramatically. But, of course, I wouldn't be able to resist and do it anyway. Take a bullet meant for Abraham Lincoln? John F Kennedy? John Lennon? What would be different today if I did? Something tells me I don't think we'll ever know. But it sure is food for thought.

"M-M-M-Mad Movies!!"

What movies?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (Toronto, Canada in the 1980's), our family discovered a hidden treasure in the form of a comedy troupe known as the L.A. Connection. What they did was take old B and C-movies from years and years ago and remove all of the dialogue and add their own to create an entirely new movie. Here's "Sherlock Holmes Pt One":



Isn't that insane? I didn't find out until later that they would do it all in an improvisational style so none of it was rehearsed. I would think it would be hard enough to do without going over it first. Here's part two:



I found a website that sells all of these for like hundreds of dollars. Mmm, think I'll go to YouTube and watch them for free thank you very much. I remember getting together on Saturday nights at my uncle's house and getting pizza from "Pizza Pizza". Yes, that was their name. They were the predecessor to Little Caesar's I think. Anyways, we'd all watch these ridiculous movie clips and just laugh a lot. It's a shame that we never truly understand how great it is to be a kid until we're adults. There's certain parts of my life I wouldn't mind going through again, just to reminisce about things I've forgotten that will never be remembered again. But, I can't. But it's cool. Memories happen every day. It just takes a little effort to know when.

"Communion Time...Is Here..."

Yes, after much ado and planning, Emily has officially had her first Communion! I think it means she is a full-fledged member of the church now. What really worked out was she didn't get to have the ceremonial wine associated with Communion because of the swine flu that's going around. She had tasted it before as a pre-cursor warm-up to the big day. I had told her it tasted like bitter salt before she ever tried it and sure enough, that was her reaction as well. Here is a pic of Emmy in her lovely white dress:


A lot of Cari's family flew/drove/sailed in to catch this event too. Was nice to see Uncle Paul again. Here is a pic that I had them pose for specifically:


At some point, the two of them began calling each other "Mr. Ketchup" and "Mrs.
Mustard". Can you see the props I added? I bet ya can. I also made a video of Zach and Paul playing harmonica and guitar, respectively. Check out the "Zach Clark Band":



What's funny is now Emmy wants to go to church now that she feels like she's an actual part of the whole picture now. I grew up in a house where going to church wasn't really up to us. We went. Week after week, we went. While I hold no ill will towards the person or persons who made us go, I wonder how I wold have turned out if I had hardly or never went at all. I would probably think something was missing and be like those people who go on life-affirming missions and vacations trying to "find themselves". I'm probably not as religious as most people, but I have a plan for myself and my family and it's good to know where I'm going when I'm no longer here. Our lives are so temporary, it's hard to accept any permanence. Now I'm not done living by any means, but in my mind I imagine myself at 60, 70, 80 and it feels like it's right around the corner. I feel the same as I did when I was 15 though. Insecure sometimes, not really feeling like an "adult". But I guess I am. I sat with my grandfather at Mac's and he really didn't say much. I guess when you're almost 87 doing anything becomes a bit of a struggle. Am I going to be like that when I'm that old? My mind is always racing and thinking of different things and never really settling into a routine, so part of me thinks no. Of course, things change, and people change, even if we don't want to think about it.

"Revenge...is Coming..."

No, I did not shoot this in a theater. But someone did. Apparently they ate Pop Rocks and Coke beforehand as the picture is quite shaky. But man, Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen is looking great! If you read my July 2007 posts, you can see how jazzed I was that my favourite toy growing up was going to be done in real-life (or as real-life as you can get considering computers made a BIG difference). And now...the sequel. Two months and counting. Don't know how many of the toys I will be acquiring since 1) it adds up, and 2) I don't know how excited I am about collecting things anymore. Maybe I'm growing up, who knows. Maybe it's a case of been there, done that, but I am pretty sure I will pick up one, maybe two items, but not eleven like I did back in 2007. A one-car garage only holds so much.

Re-tiled the bathroom floor on Monday! I wanted it to be a surprise for Cari when she got home. I almost had it pulled off but she showed up a little early as I was finishing. With the exception of a couple of spaces in between tiles it looks really good. I've been wanting to do that for months, ever since we bought the tiles and the old floor started coming up on its own. Now the toilet decided to start leaking right after I finish retiling. Argh. Fortunately, I identified where it's coming from, so now I can replace the pipe that connects from the wall. EIGHT HOURS I spent doing this. I woke up the next day sore beyond belief. My plan was to do both bathrooms on the same day. Oh what a fool was I. It took over four hours just to get the old floor up. Apparently, and this is following in the spirit of the house, one part of the floor came right up and the rest of it was perma-bonded to the floor with some sort of adhesive used only by NASA. My hips and arms were (and still are) killing me.

We found some kittens in our backyard last Saturday! Here are some pix:




The mom came back and got them some point Sunday night, but it was nice to have pets around the house besides Zach and Emmy ha ha. According to my new BFF Wikipedia:

"Several ancient religions believed that cats are exalted souls, companions or guides for humans, that they are all-knowing but are mute so they cannot influence decisions made by humans."

True? Possibly. I always thought Egyptians worshipped them due to the fact that they would always find the highest place in the house (or adobe) to sleep. How could you not pay your respects to something like that?

"Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk!"

Who said that? Shakespeare? Nope. Stephen King? Guess again. It was the Three Stooges, and rumour has it a big-screen movie is going to be made about their life on and off-screen. Now granted, it's been a while since I relished waking up at the crack of dawn to watch Moe, Larry and (fill in the blank) do what they do best, which is (ineptly) run a business and slap the stuffing out of each other. While YouTubing, I found this clip of them running a dental practice:



Good times.

I have a VHS five-pack of their best work:



And a DVD box set best of, which I must have packed away somewhere.

And a collector's set of bobbleheads:



Now the notion was that the Stooges were primary aimed at guys and kids since we all seem to think the same things are funny. And it's true. But I find it hard to believe that a few chicks out there wouldn't fall down and laugh at the sight of people getting poked in the eyes over and over or being hit in the head by something that normal people wouldn't think of as bludgeoning instruments. I know I do. I remember waking up one morning at 6:30am just to watch the 15 or 20 minutes they would allow on KTXA21. I go in the living room and my dad's in there...asleep. To this day I'll never know if he was pretending to be asleep in there or if he was waiting to watch the same thing I was. I think he was embarrassed to have someone catch him watching this "comedy" and laid down and closed his eyes real fast. Little did he know he (may have) put on a big show for nothing.


I found this picture on Wikipedia of the last picture taken of Moe and Larry together. It was around 1970 and man, it kind of spooked me a little. This was the first time I had seen them...well...old. I guess it is inevitable that we all have to grow old and then die. I have been struggling with the idea that we work our whole lives for something only to leave it all behind. When people go into a depression it usually revolves around, "What is the point of it all?" And on many levels, they're right. But we were put here for a reason, right? I had always told myself that the secret of life was to value and appreciate each day, not necessarily as if it were our last, but just to not let a day go by and not be satisfied with what you had accomplished that day. Most of our days we really don't accomplish anything. We work, come home, eat dinner and go to bed. And, repeat the process over and over. I'm sure a lot of us have dreams and ambitions that will more then likely never be realized. I guess it's easier when we convince ourselves we never had a chance anyway, so why subject yourself to rejection? I'm such a downer sometimes.

"Is He Ready?"

Well, if this video is any indication, then heck yeah! Conan O'Brien is about to move from his lousy 12:35 EST time slot to a not-as-lousy 11:35 EST time slot to take over Jay Leno as host of the Tonight Show! And man, not a moment too soon. Leno seems to have run his course and is wise to turn things over to someone whose ideas can only be described as ridiculous to the point of hilarity. You always know when Leno has a say in something on the show when he is cracking up and no one else is. The truth is, I'm not even a hardcore fan of his show, but I thought he made the Simpsons the funniest show around. Who knoew that when I was watching Saturday Night Live back in 1991 when Tom Hanks became a member of the "Five-Timers Club" that a young (and unknown) O'Brien would be Sean, the doorman. It seems to be the stuff he does away from his show that always makes me crack up. I remember when he first came on in 1994 he had David Letterman on and man, talk about being uncomfortable. Dave looked like he would pay someone $1,000 to kidnap him and get him the heck out of there. Heck, I wanted someone to get me out of there too! But he figured out what needed to be changed, what needed to be kept the same, and now look at him.

Cari hasn't felt good this week at all. And, since we share a home, chances are I'll have it before long. The eternal question is...if you could change one thing about the way your body works, what would it be and why? If you were an amputee, the easy answer would be to have your limb(s) back. If you were deaf, your hearing back, blind, your sight back, etc. For me...I would eliminate the need for sleep. Just imagine how productive we would be if we weren't unconscious a third of our lives. I started thinking about this back in 1993 when I was working nights and hated having to come home and sleep while everyone else was out there enjoying the fresh air. Fortunately, being 1/4 Venezuelan kept me somewhat tan even though I rarely saw the light of day. And now...my opinion of this still hasn't changed. I still hate getting tired and waking up tired.

I can't wait to break in our Six Flags passes this year. We had them in 2004 and really got our money's worth and plan to this year too. Each inch that Zach gets taller means more rides he can ride not only with us but by himself as well. He is certainly becoming his own person. He has this knack of saying things that are totally unexpected and cracking the room up. One of the more challenging things of being a dad is trying not to make it seem that the younger one can do whatever they want while the older one gets punished for doing the same thing. I get the feeling Emmy feels that way sometime, even if she won't admit it. I get upset with her more then Zach but that's just because she's older and knows more ways to not be a model kid. But I get upset with the boy too. Why are kids fascinated with their own bodily functions? It is just the funniest thing to them, esp. at the dinner table...(sigh)

So now, Jimmy Fallon takes over Conan's old spot. Personally I think he's funny, even if a lot of people don't. Seriously. Check his IMDB page! People think he's a terrible comedian. But I say nay nay. His Matrix/Sex And The City bit for the VMA's a while back was hilarious. I guess the moral of it all is: Never let people tell you what you can or cannot do. Oh they can try, yes they can. But they cannot succeed. You'd be surprised what a positive outlook on life will bring you into your life.

Here is a closing clip of Conan with one of the all-time greats:

"The Mirrors...Are Haunting..."

...and man does this look good!! The commercials give me the heebie jeebies, so imagine what the movie can do. Here's a trailer:



Apparently...these mirrors don't stop reflecting when the people looking in them leave. Isn't that creepy? I always wondered if the person looking back at me would ever do anything different if I looked away. I thought about videotaping myself in the mirror looking away and seeing if anything changed but I doubt it would. Then I'd be the nut in the bathroom with a videocamera.

Congratulations to Michael Phelps on winning eight gold medals! Eight...goodness...I'd be happy with one...seriously...I wouldn't even sell it if I won it. Not that I sell everything that is valuable to me. Just see my garage right? But man, what an effort. Here's the highlight:



But what is most impressive is that diet. Have ya heard about this? I'm sure you heard someone talking about it. Basically it's 500 calories an hour for every hour of the day. 12,000 for you D+ math majors. Now I'm not about to try to even attempt that. I don't even know what my high is for something like that. But if I ever thought it was impressive I will be thinking again. Phelps ate fried egg sandwiches, pasta, a pizza, pancakes, waffles, energy drinks, and topped it all off with an omelette and ham and cheese sandwiches. Everyday during the Olympics he consumed this. And yet, for some reason, he only has like four percent body fat. You think him swimming had something to do with that?

Emmy and Zach are spending the night with my mom tomorrow night, and Cari and I are going to Cheesecake Factory and then to a movie! She says she is going to make me go to a chick flick as punishment for me seeing Dark Knight without her. I recommended "House Bunny" because hey, a movie about a Playboy bunny can't be all bad right? The truth is, we haven't had a night to outselves in quite a while, and the kids miss their grandma a lot. So I would imagine everyone wins from this.

Emmy starts 2nd grade next Monday!! She got kind of tired of going to her daycare this summer but she doesn't really want to go back to school either. So I ask her what she wants to do. She says "I want to stay home by myself." What's scary is, i would probably trust her to hold down the fort if we were somehow incapacitated. And no, I don't mean we lost our heads. I don't worry a whole lot about her because she seems to know what is important in life and knows how to have fun without causing property damage. Zach...I worry about him a little more. If he doesn't get his way he turns on the scream and makes sure everyone can hear it. I don't remember Emmy doing that but maybe I have a selective memory. I do remember me and her going to Target one day. She picked up a book up and when she was done looking at it she dropped it on the floor. I asked her to pick it up and she just started walking away. I asked her again to no avail. So, to borrow a page from Dr Phil, I went over to her, took her hand, and we left. And we did not do anything else that day. And would ya believe, it never happened again. Are girls easier to raise then boys? The answer's gotta be yes. I know they're smarter then us, I get that. Zach seems to revel in pissing us off. He really does. And that's a boy thing. I did the same thing when I was his age. But I was a little more concerned with what might happen if I crossed the line. I know he's right around the corner to really exploring his intelligence. Right now he acts like he's one move ahead of us. But nary concern: being a former boy myself (some might say I still am), I'm aware of what he's thinking and what he thinks he can get away with. But he will know his limits. This...I vow. Now someone make me a fried egg sandwich.

"One Great Weekend!"

What makes it so great? Well, lots of things actually! Last night I was supposed to go out with a friend and Cari was going to have some of her friends over for a girls' night. One thing I've learned is that things can change in a second. First, my friend cancels. Then, some of Cari's friends can't make it. Fortunately, we usually make the best of it though. I hung out with Zach instead and made the most of it. We cruise down town to...well...down town. What I love about going there is you never know what's going on there. And as it turns out, the auto show was going on! Zach couldn't stop running from car to car which means I couldn't stop running after him! He had a great time though. We had a great time:


Zach: "Hey Dad, can we buy this car?"
Me: "Um...yeah...I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with you there..."


Zach: "What about this one?"
Me: "Um...hmm...(opens wallet) No."


Me: "Bumblebee? If you can hear me...say something."
Zach: "Dad..."
Me: "You called me...Dad...can you transform?"
Zach: "Dad! It's not him!"

Afterwards we stopped at Jack In The Box for a little dinner, came home, put Zach to bed and sang a few songs (competitively of course lol). Tonight Emmy gets to go to the Stars hockey game with her aunt Keri! She may not like hockey but I'm sure she will enjoy the cotton candy or whatever she talks her aunt into buying her! Zach is staying with his grandma Mary and Cari and I are going on a date! Not sure where we're going or what we're doing, but we really want to try something different. So we're just gonna get in the ol' car and see what we haven't done. We tried that a couple of times before and ended up having dinner at like 9pm. Good times lol.

This has become one of my favourite YouTube clips. Imagine the amount of time and patience it took to make this AND...he opened them up! I may not have the time to make something like this but I could...if I wanted to.



You have to have some kid-free time every now and then. Dr. Phil said a long time ago that couples who don't take time for themselves and only think about their kids tend to forget how to communicate and end up losing interest with each other which usually leads to divorce. I really don't want that to happen. Cari and I have always been able to talk about things though. I think that's always been the one constant in my relationships. Good conversation cannot be faked.