Mountains

I'm sitting at my desk, almost quitting time, looking out of the window at the cold rain. On my wall is a "mountain" calender with photographs of various mountains. It reminds me of the first time I saw a real mountain.

It was in 1978. We were driving to Idaho to visit my brother. Up until then, the only mountains I had seen were the Arkansas foothills and another small hill in Santa Anna, Texas called "Santa Anna Mountain". I doubt seriously if I had seen anything over a thousand feet high. Where I grew up, Louisiana, was as flat as could be. The highest point was only a little over five hundred feet high. I read internet sites that help guide people who want to reach the highest point in all fifty states. For Louisiana's entry, there isn't ever really a high point. The site just says walk around a bit at these GPS coordinates and you've probably laid foot on the highest point in Louisiana.

Anyway, on the way to Idaho, we crossed Texas and spent the night near the Texas - New Mexico border. The next day, we crossed the "corner" of New Mexico on our way to Colorado. Besides mountains, another earth feature that I find incredibly beautiful is the desert. The sight of vast earth and sky with no trees or buildings blocking the incredible vastness of our world is an awesome and wonderful sight. I just watched out of the window at the desert and sky. As we approached the Colorado border, I saw a feature interrupting the desert and sky. It was a mountain peak, rising out of the desert. Even though we were dozens of miles away, I could see it was incredibly huge, with the snowcapped top that I'd only seen in pictures. It sort of reminded me of the time that, at my summer job one night, somebody brought a telescope and trained it on Saturn. He invited me to take a look and what I saw was like every picture of Saturn I'd seen in science magazines - the beautiful ringed gas giant. There's something about seeing something in a book or magazine or on television then seeing it in person. It's like the fact that mountains or Saturn actually exists could be a lie or some massive deception, but seeing it with your own eyes, well, you realize that it is real. I looked at our map and learned that the mountain was Cuelebra Peak. As we drove, we passed it by, and soon entered Colorado with its dozens, if not hundreds of high mountains lived.

I've been to Idaho many times since, and always loved the mountains. If I am fortunate enough to retire, I will go to live in the mountains. It's possible they'll lose their awe and wonder, living in them every day - sort of like how New Yorkers never notice the Statue of Liberty. Somehow, I doubt it. Even, so the first mountain I ever saw will always have a special place in my heart.

It's Geek Time!

Time for another installment in the life of a geek. This is a late report on BayouCon '11, the science fiction convention in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The best thing about these conventions is not only seeing old friends, but making new ones. My Klingon friend, Shane (Ri'par) was there and he introduced me to some of his friends in the 501st, which is the Star Wars costuming group. I'm not sure if there is a more instant bonding among those of us who are into science fiction/Star Trek/Star Wars. Awesome folks! Now, to the meat of the convention. This was a good one for us Trek folks. Vaughn Armstrong, who played Admiral Forrest in Enterprise, as well as many other characters, including the first Klingon on Next Generation, and Max Grodenchik, who played Rom in Deep Space Nine were there, as well as a voice-over/video game actor, Dino Andrade.

We also met again Larry Nemecek who is a Star Trek authority and author who is also very funny and cool to spend time with. Here he is with me and Shane:

We spent time Friday night with Larry and some of the other con folks. I also got to meet Chris and Charity Wood, who run one of my favorite Trek websites, Subspace Communique. They are also such super folks and I am so glad to meet and spend time with them.

The first night, we were invited to dinner with Dino and Vaughn, which was awesome. They were such nice folks and we talked for hours and had a great meal. Shane mentioned to Vaughn that he had bloodwine, and he was only too eager to join us in a drink. The drink turned into several more hours in the parking lot, and several glasses of bloodwine. We talked about many things and it was so awesome to hear so many stories and tell so many stories to someone I consider as much of a celebrity as Brad Pitt. It was a great night.

The next day Shane and I went as Klingons and had a great time, talking to Max, who was equally as awesome as well, and meeting other friends and having our picture taken. Dino is also a great and funny guy. That's another great thing about science fiction conventions - meeting great people that I'd never really heard of. Dino is pretty in demand as the video game/animation voice actors go, but I'd never heard of him. Now I see why. He's funny and personable and BayouCon was fortunate to have him.

That evening, Max and Vaughn did a nightclub-type show - songs Max and Vaughn had written, which were really good and both were great entertainers. They do a full Rat Pack type show with Casey Biggs, Arman Shimmerman and Jeff Combs. That's a have-to see.

The next day was slow, as I had to get back to Baton Rouge. All in all it was a super con and I look forward to going next year.

In the country

When May comes, one of the things I really look forward to is going to see my Mother's family in central Arkansas, twenty miles from anywhere. A consequence of getting older, I guess, is that what used to be a dreaded experience, the family reunion, is now something that I love. It happened after many years of not going to the reunions. One year, maybe because our Mother is getting older, my brother and I decided to go with Mother to the reunion. The relatives are, for the most part, the same, and I guess I am, too. The closest I can come to what it feels like is lifting a burden off my shoulders. The burden, in this case, is one of an ungrateful child who didn't appreciate the simply joys of being with aunts, uncles and cousins I've known for many ears. Seeing them and telling them in so many words, how much I cherish this time together and please forgive me for being such a ungrateful child is something I needed to do. This was something I didn't tell my aunts, uncles and cousins outright, but I would like to think that this was something unspoken among us, something to be said, understood, and forgotten. How pointless it is to dwell on things I did in the past that, in this case, I had a chance to make right. The effect of this is, for me, the years and years of good memories that came flooding back. The days exploring the thickets and forests, relishing the clean air and experiences of being a child again. We talk, eat and drink and remember those times, tell stories and wish the weekend would never end. The first thing I did when I got back to work was to mark off the week around Memorial Day 2012, the simply joy of looking forward to this again.

New Orleans Comic-Con

I am an unapologetic geek. I love all things geekish and nerdy. Comic-Con is the mecca for us geeks, so, when it came to New Orleans, attendance was mandatory. It didn't hurt that the media guests were pretty impressive: Louis Gossett, Jr., Adam West and Burt Ward from Batman, Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters, Nick Brendon, Kelly Donovan, Clare Kramer, James Marsters, Julie Benz and James Leary from Buffy, and, the one I was most looking forward to meeting, Walter Koenig from the original Star Trek.

Even though there wasn't a lot of Trek subject matter here, I went in uniform. I made a new headpiece, which I think turned out pretty good. Here's a picture:



Big crowd there, in the hundreds if not thousands. Lots of comic book artists and science fiction themed vendor booths. One could spend lots o' money for a lot of neat stuff. Also lots of folks in costume, with everything from Japanese anime to Star Wars characters. I think the attendees got a kick out of seeing a Klingon, too. I must have posed for at least a hundred pictures. Here's one of them, me with the eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who:

All of the celebrities I met were super nice. I had a cool chat with James Marsters about New Orleans music and how unique the city is.

There was a costume contest that evening with many great and original costumes. When I was called to the front, one of the judges asked me if I knew any Klingon poetry. I told her I knew Klingon songs, so, she asked me to sing. I sang the Klingon Battle Song in Klingon, which was enjoyed by the judges and others attending. I didn't win anything, but it was a blast.

I have to give props to the folks that ran the convention. It was very well run and I heard no complaints. I'm sure they will be back next year and I'm sure I will be.

I am a Soldier

Although it might be fun to memorialize certain stories from my time in the service, that isn't what this is. This is my philosophy where it regards my job. I learned a long, long time ago that getting to "the top" just wasn't in the cards here. I didn't know the right people, neither would I kiss the appropriate ass necessary to get to "the top". I did my job, did it pretty darn good, and kept my nose clean.

A funny thing, though. I've seen lots of folks come and go here. Most of 'em, I don't know where they went to, and don't really care. What I saw in these folks was the drive that I had years ago, the notion that they could make it to "the top". When they saw that, alas, that wasn't in the cards for them, they left. Maybe they went somewhere that their drive and determination could pay off. Good for them. I hope they found what they were looking for. Me, I'm just happy being a soldier.

What brought all of this on? Well, you see, there became open a promotion to mid-management. In a perfect world, that would be just in my wheelhouse. In the real world, that position was decided long ago, to be filled by the husband/wife/son/daughter of Mr./Mrs.________. The folks who actually run the shop are keenly aware that Mr./Mrs.________ would be most pleased that their husband/wife/son/daughter got the position and Mr./Mrs. __________ would continue to bless the company. And, as Walter Cronkite said, "that's the way it is".

Where the fun comes in is that we have three young idealists who all have that dream - that this is the job that is most certainly theirs. Why, nobody has worked as hard as me! This is my reward! Now where's the phone book. I've got to look up "BMW". Then, as is already pre-ordained, the day came when none of the three got the job. Husband/wife/son/daughter is almost finished moving in to their new office. I hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth. I sympathize and cluck with them at the unfairness of it all. Three months from now, all three of the dreamers will be gone. I'll be digging my foxhole.

Scout's Honor

So, the History Channel has this show on called "Apocalypse Man". It's a former Marine giving survival tips for us puny humans if/when the apocalypse hits. I found it to be somewhat cheesy but interesting. I learned a few things that I did know or hadn't thought of before.

But, it got me to thinking. If a ever find myself in some post-apocalyptic scenario, I am certain that I will be able to hold my own, because of one chapter in my life: Boy Scouts. Don't laugh. I was in scouts for about eight years. At that time, I didn't know or didn't give a fuck about gay scoutmasters or gay scouts. All I know is I had some cool-as-shit adults that supervised us and cool-as-shit friends that were scouts with me. I learned three things in scouts that may be the three most important things to survive in a post-apocalyptic environment: 1) First Aid, 2) Knot Tying and 3) How to live off the land.

Now that I think about it, our scout leaders may have been one of these survivalist types, but I don't remember any batshit preaching or the like. All I know is that we went out in the woods, deep in the woods, rain or shine, summer or winter, one weekend a month like clockwork. If it was during school, we'd go Friday afternoon to Sunday night. If we weren't in school, sometimes we went for a week. The adults that went with us were unbelievably patient with us teenagers. They spent hours teaching us, showing us these skills, some of which aren't real easy to learn or remember. We learned how to build a shelter, and actually built them, no matter where we were (OK, we didn't build snow shelters, being in Louisiana, but we sure learned how to build them). We learned how to start and build a fire, using several non-match methods. We learned how to build animal snares and traps and, more importantly how to build human snares and traps. We used ropes and learned how to tie knots, used the aforementioned ropes and knots to climb trees and cross rivers. We learned how to navigate with and without a compass, how to find water and make sure that the water we drink won't make us sick. We learned what to do if we were injured, or snakebit, encountered a bear or other large predator, or got too cold or too hot.

What amazes me most of all is I retained almost all of this knowledge. Maybe it is something hardwired into the survival gene of humans, I don't know, but for whatever reason, I am grateful. The likelihood that I'll ever have to use all of these skills to survive in a "Red Dawn" type of scenario before I shuffle off this mortal coil? Real slim. But, it's nice to know it's there in my head.

What Kind of World?

A month ago, I went to my Mother's family home in north-central Arkansas for a reunion. It was nice seeing my aunts, uncles and cousins again. One of my cousins who I am very close to just had a baby girl, Madison. She was born on February 2, 2010 and is, by my observations, one beautiful girl. If history has any intelligence, the film "Groundhog Day" will be a classic and shown or available when Madison is old enough to watch film.

Madison was a little over four months old when I saw her. Her whole life is ahead of her. What kind of world will she live in? Even by the time she graduates high school the world will certainly be a different place than now. Just judging from twenty years or so ago, the world will change a lot. Cell phones went from a novelty to necessity. Cell phones went from just phones to miniature computers. Computers and the internet have brought together the world like no one could have imagined. But what's going to happen by the time Madison graduates high school and beyond? To me, and other folks who are dreamers, there will be a time when war, poverty, disease will be gone. It isn't going to be easy. There'll be war, oppressive government, social unrest before then. I hope not. I hope we figure it out without too much trouble. In twenty years, though, I'll wager there'll be changes. Big changes. There'll be surprises and horrors. There'll also be God's handiwork at its finest. In 2017, a total solar eclipse will track across the United States, from the northwest to southeast. And to top that, in just seven short years later, in 2024, another total solar eclipse will track across the United States, from southwest to northeast. Madison will see them both and marvel at God's glory. She'll see the worst in people and the best in people. She might see horrific things that will make the gulf oil spill seem like a mud puddle, but she'll also see our glorious world, the mountains of Wyoming, the deserts of Arizona, the coasts of Maine and the vast prairie of the Dakotas. She'll grow up in a changing world, a different world, but I think it will be a world still much the same. People will still help each other, people will still fall in love, and people will live to make this world a better place. When she's old enough, Madison will help, too.

The sky, the magnificent sky

Last night was a clear night for south Louisiana. The stars shone as bright as they could, given the light pollution, which unfortunately existed some miles outside of Baton Rouge. It was clear enough, however, to see something not seen often around here - the planet Mercury. Soon after sunset, I found a clear view to the western horizon. Venus, the evening star, was all dressed up and ready to dance. As promised, in Venus' 4 o'clock position, was a fainter but definitely visible Mercury. Wow. I could imagine, hundreds and thousands of years ago, people watched the night sky and saw how the stars' pattern remained the same, except for what were the planets. That must have confounded those ancient astronomers - what were these possessed points of light that moved separately from the template of stars? What sort of genius were Copernicus and Galileo to figure out that we're part of a solar system of planets orbiting our sun?

Several years ago, when I was working a summer job, one of the employees brought a telescope on a clear night. Although I was a faithful and hard-working employee, I was still on graveyard. I could hear my boss telling his supervisor: "Yeah, Ingram's good - he's real good - he's just not ready for the show yet." Anyway, this fella was a bit of an astronomy buff. He set up his telescope, tweaked it, and said "Take a look." I said "What am I looking at?" He said, "You'll know". I put my eye to the lens and saw - it all its glory - Saturn and its rings. I was like the cartoon character whose jaw dropped four feet. It was one thing to read about and see pictures of Saturn and the rings, but quite another to actually see it! Wow, I thought. So those science books weren't lying to me after all. He next then focused on Jupiter - I could easily see the four moons Galileo saw, as well as Jupiter's cloud bands. I couldn't see the Great Red Spot, though, and my astronomer friend confirmed that it was on the other side of the planet. Still, though, truly amazing.

Something about he night sky that always draws me to look, to really look. To imagine those worlds out there, the life on those worlds. Some silly part of me imagines the space station Deep Space Nine out there, Benjamin Sisko, Garak and Julian Bashir. I've been lucky enough to be out in the wilderness, hundreds of miles from a city, and see the night sky so full of stars I had trouble making out the familiar constellations. It's a bit of a letdown, even a little depressing, as I watched Venus and Mercury, to know the other thousands of stars that are out there, but unseen in that particular night sky.

The best decision I ever made

Today is the anniversary of the best decision I ever made in my life. That decision was to join the Army. I was out of college, working at a pizza joint, and not getting a lot of encouraging responses on my job hunt. I had applied to officer candidate school several weeks before, and March 16th was the date I received news I was accepted. The recruiter told me that I pretty much had to make the decision that day. I did, and signed my name. The reason it was such a good decision is hard to explain. First off, I never became an officer. I finished basic training as an honor graduate, and thought that I was well on my way to my career as an Army officer. After two weeks of OCS, I knew that this was not what a wanted. When I dropped out, I served the rest of my hitch as an enlisted.

What made it such a valuable experience for me was the whole package. In basic training, you learn lots of common sense, practical stuff. Because I was stationed in Germany, I got to see and live in Europe for three years. I met several of my dearest friends in my life in the Army. The experience is really something that has to be lived, and can't really be described. I guess, maybe, what made it such a good thing is that I really felt like I did my duty for my country. It helped me get into law school, the G.I. Bill helped me through law school and helped me get my job after law school. Lots of things, if given the chance to do over, I'd do different. Not this. I'd serve again, and am proud and thankful for all of my fellow citizens that serve as well.

March 11

March 11 is a memorable date. The reason why I remember the date and the event that goes with it, well, let's say it is probably one of the big mysteries of the human psyche. The great film, Citizen Kane has a timeless line in it that, when I heard it, made me understand why I do remember this date. During the film, one of characters, Mr. Bernstein, when being interviewed about remembering past events, said this memorable line:

"A fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn't think he'd remember. You take me. One day, back in 1896, I was crossing over to Jersey on the ferry, and as we pulled out, there was another ferry pulling in, and on it there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on. She was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn't see me at all, but I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since, that I haven't thought of that girl."

My first crush was in sixth grade, on a girl named Anne. I can't remember how, but I discovered that her birthday was on March 11. Sixth grade boys being sixth grade boys, I was, of course, too scared to give her a present or card to her face. So, after much espionage/tradecraft worthy of John leCarre, I made sure a neatly wrapped paperbook of "The Island of the Blue Dolphins" found its way to a place where she, and only she, saw it. She picked it up and, before I could see if she opened it, I determined that it was too dangerous for me to stay around. Later on, in the days that followed, I heard titters and snatches of conversation that gave me reason to believe that she had, in fact, opened it, liked the book, and did not have a clue who gave it too her. It is possible that her phantom gifter remained a secret all of these years.

Anne and I were good friends and I still crushed on her throughout junior high and high school, but not as bad as sixth grade. I don't have a clue where she is now, or if she is even still around. I'd like to think that I'll see her sometime soon, and, if I do, will admit to what I did. March 11 will always be to me the day that is Anne's birthday, and every year on that day, I think fondly of her and hope she is doing well.

2012 and silly pleasures

I finally saw 2012. Have to agree totally with Roger Ebert, who said:

"The bottom line is: The movie gives you your money's worth. Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it one of the year's best? No. Does Emmerich hammer it together with his elbows from parts obtained from the Used Disaster Movie Store? Yes. But is it about as good as a movie in this genre can be? Yes."

I see this movie like chili over rice. Not the most healthful thing, but gosh, it's good.

One of my weird things is when I see stuff on TV or in the movies is watching for familiar actors/actresses and recognizing them from crossover roles, especially in the Star Trek and Buffy/Angel universe.

2012 was cool because it had two: There was a scientist in 2012 that played the exact same role, same look, just a different name, in an Angel ep, "Unleashed".

Also, there's a captain of a ship guy in 2012 that is one of my favorite guys, Stephen McHattie. I first knew him as Jake Pasquinnel, the character Pasquinnel's (Robert Conrad) son. But my favorite role, albeit a small one, was in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ep, "In the Pale Moonlight" where he plays a Romulan, Vreenak, who gives us the unforgettable line "It's a faaaaake!"

All in all, 2012 was a pretty good diversion.

Lazy Summer Nights

Many times this summer, my mind wandered to those lazy summer nights at my house in Bossier City.

I remember fondly the times when I was "all growed up" as they say, and can appreciate the wonderful times I spent with my mother and father on those summer nights. Mother would make the most wonderful meals. Simple, but I don't think I'd trade one of them for Ruth's Chris. A good example of what she would make would be: round steak, boiled potatoes, green beans, salad with cucumber, sliced tomatoes and cantaloupe. The cucumber, tomatoes and cucumber were from my father's garden. I'd bet my last dollar that there wasn't any tastier vegetables and fruit anywhere. After supper, I'd wash the dishes, then join my father on the back patio in lawn chairs. We'd drink diet coke or iced tea and listen to the Astros. Lokai the cat had back yard privileges when someone was out to watch her, so she busied herself stalking bugs or just flopping on the cement patio. As the game went on, night fell and the cicadas started their buzz. Finally, it would get too dark, or the mosquitos would get too active, and father, son and cat would go inside. Most of the time the game wouldn't be over, so we'd listen in the den, or watch ESPN baseball. I treasure those memories. Now that my father has been gone for many years, I am so glad of the time I spent with him, on the patio with the cat on those lazy summer nights.

Firefly

For someone who likes television and televison shows, I am way behind the curve so many times. By that I mean the show has been on for several years, or had its run and passed, then I figure out this was a great show and I should watch it. This is the cast picture of this latest, and greatest behind-the-curve incident, Joss Whedon's Firefly. Firefly only ran for 14 episodes, plus a movie, Serenity, then it was gone. In that short run, Firefly has entered to the pantheon of shows that I hold revered above all else. Folks apparently agree with me, because Firefly regularly appears in, if not at the top of, lists of shows that should have never been canceled.

Ok, so much with the yapping. What makes it great? To call it a western set in space is like saying a Bruce Springsteen show is some guy playing the guitar and singing. What sets Firefly apart, from the very beginning, is that we care about these characters. Deeply. When I realized the show had come to an end, I immediately started thinking of more stories, more plots and wished for hours and hours of time to write more stories about this grand crew and noble ship. Perhaps, as some other commentator opined, it is best that Firefly ended when it did, otherwise it would suffer the fate of mediocre seasons, and perhaps a downward spiral into indifference that marks the last few years of so many shows. We'll never know. Firefly does live on, and thanks to the almighty DVD, other folks can discover what they missed, just as I had.

Facebook ex Machina

Don't know if that is the correct use, but it looks cool. I've been registered on Facebook for a couple of years, but not very active. It started for us Buffyverse folks to have a place to exchange stuff and keep up. Then my cousin Laurie found me plus one of my dearest Army buddies. However, earlier this summer, one of my high school friends that I keep in touch with mentioned that he's on Facebook. I looked him up and discovered that tons of folks I went to high school with are on. So, in this case, Facebook does exactly what it is supposed to . . . allows old friends to find each other and keep up. Good for you, facebook!

J.J. Abrams is a freakin' genius

I am a big Star Trek fan.  Ever since I first saw the series, in syndication, when I was eleven or twelve, I was hooked.  My friend Mitch Markow and I would make starship intercoms out of colored paper and tape them up around my house.  My Aunt Noppie almost had me in tears when, during a visit to her in west Texas, she told me that William Shatner was old and fat and doing commercials selling margarine.  

Undaunted, I watched the original series time and time again until I literally had most of the scripts memorized.  When Star Trek - The Next Generation first came out, I was uncertain, but gave it a try.  Yep.  They nailed it again.  I haven't seen all of Deep Space Nine, but I'm working my way through the series (as soon as I finish Angel, though).  I've heard mixed reviews from my serious trekkie friends about Voyager and Enterprise, but I'm sure I'll give them a try as well.

With the new Star Trek movie, taking place prior to the events in TOS, I was looking forward to it.  It didn't hurt that they cast Sylar (Zachary Quinto), Eomer (Karl Urban), and Simon Pegg from Shaun of the Dead.  

So, being the total geek/nerd/dork, I went with my fellow sci-fi dorks to see the film.  In Klingon uniform?  You betcha. That's me on the left.

(SPOILERS FOLLOW SPOILERS FOLLOW)

As the film drew to a close, I came to the shocking conclusion that the Star Trek as I knew it had been altered forever!  Vulcan, the planet, and 99% of its people, were gone.  Spock's mother was dead.  This means that the TOS ep "Journey to Babel" never existed . . . Spock never went back to Vulcan during "Amok Time".  

Wait, I thought.  This isn't the end of Star Trek as I knew it . . . rather, it is the beginning of new journeys, unencumbered by the events of the original series.  See, if the Star Trek movie hadn't changed the timeline, then subsequent movies (of which I am sure there will be at least a few) would have to honor the events of the original series.  This would have meant that every scene, every shot of the subsequent films would fall under the intense scrutiny of trekkies who make me look like a lightweight.  Now, J.J. Abrams doesn't have to worry at all about who originally beamed down to Cestus 3 in "Arena", or who the tribunal was in "The Menagerie", for fear of getting something wrong which, no doubt, would have been pointed out by the aforementioned trekkies.  

J.J. Abrams is a freakin' genius.  He made a spectacular film, and at the same time, secured his ability to make future films without having to make sure everything is one hundred percent in sync with the original series.  

An Adventure for the Ages

Today, St. Patrick's Day, marks the anniversary of an adventure for the ages. A quest, as it were, not for gold or treasure or to secure the defeat of an evil despot, but rather for new friends, beer and fun.

While I was in law school, I met and hung out with a girl from Cleveland, named Abby. She was somewhat of a sponge, knowing that I was a guy who found her attractive, and in exchange for letting me hang out with her, I ferried her around, helped her move, etc. My mindset was, well, it was possible for her to be my girlfriend, if only she would come around. Well, it never happened. Some of my friends thought she was playing me for a fool, which I probably was, but, still, she was fun to hang out with and she was pretty.

I digress. As I said, she was from Cleveland and loved it. That city doesn't conjure up pleasant images for most folks, what with the "mistake by the Lake" and whatnot. Having spent time in two midwestern cities, Indianapolis and Chicago, and loved them, I really didn't have an opinion one way or another.

She spoke with reverence about the St. Patrick's day celebration in her hometown, mostly of the 87th? street pub crawl. At that time I was in my last semester of law school. I had zero chance of graduating in the top ten percent, had busted my ass for two and one-half years, and figured, I'd do something impulsive and adventurous. So, I mentioned the idea of us driving up to Cleveland for St. Patrick's day. Abby was one hundred percent for it.

We left on Friday, March 12 from New Orleans (where she lived). I had taken the ethics portion of the bar exam earlier that day, and due to excitement, plus information that this was an easy test, caused me to fail it miserably. I retook it that summer and passed.

The route was to take us I-59 north to Chattanooga, then I-75 north to Cincinnati, then I-71 to Cleveland. We left early Friday afternoon.

Sometime before we left Mississippi for Alabama, it began to snow. Hard. I had driven through many snows in Germany and thought if I just took it slow, it would be okay. As the snow piled up, I realized this was a snow for the ages in the South. It got colder and colder, and somewhere around the Brookwood exit just after Tuscaloosa, my Nissan Sentra slid off the road. We were stuck. It was snowing hard and cold. This was the days before cell phones, mind you, so we were SOL. The Brookwood exit was less than a mile ahead, and we decided that Abby would stay with the car while I went to the exit to get help. Before I set out, I pulled the boner of the trip. A couple of guys passed by in a 4-wheel-drive pickup. The driver yelled to me "need us to pull you out?" and I said "yes". He then said, we'll do it for $20. A voice I did not recognize, and if I did recognize it today, I would surely gut it like a deer someone shot, said "That's okay." The driver shrugged and moved on. Yay for me. The world is not without balance, however. In a stroke of genius, I threw my heavy duty, insulated, waterproof U.S. Army issue combat boots in the trunk. Had I not, my feet might have seriously been frostbitten. Instead, my feet stayed warm and dry.

I made it to the Shell station a the Brookwood exit, and after small talk, called a tow truck, which, by some miracle, was still running. Back at the car, I discovered that Abby was missing. Whether she struck out on her own, or was kidnapped, or dead, I didn't know. The truck came, and took my car back to a motel in Tuscaloosa. The people there were kind enough to give me a place to lay down, while I made phone calls to Abby's parents to see if she checked in. She did, and I found out she was at a rest stop down the interstate. Oh, and I locked my keys inside my car. Not thinking about locksmiths, I broke the window to get the keys. Well, we couldn't make the rest of the trip in a car with a broken window, so a quick side trip to the airport to rent a car was in order. I rented the largest car they had, a Buick Regal, and parked my car there. There remained one final problem. The police closed the interstate. I couldn't get to Abby. Looking at the map, I figured the police couldn't be present at every on ramp, and a quick check verified that. All that remained was for me to move the barracades, and I was on my way to Cleveland. I picked up Abby and we slowly made our way north.

It snowed hard the rest of the way. Other than fighting sleep, we made the rest of the trip without incident. We arrived at Abby's parent's house Sunday morning. We both slept until Monday morning.

I met Abby's friends, William Bell (not related) and his little brother (whose name I cannot remember) and Matt, her friend who she had a tremendous crush on. They must have found me somewhat cool, because we hung out every night that week. We went downtown to The Flats, they took me to a private rave-type party, and some club later in the week to see a band. There was, of course, the reason for the trip - the pub crawl on Wednesday (St. Patrick's) night. I don't remember much, but the snippits I remember were fun. One other amusing thing was that Abby wasn't pleased with me, because Matt hung out with me most of the time, and told me in pretty clear language that he likes Abby as a friend, but doesn't want to be a couple. He was also a big Doors and Jim Morrisson fan.

These were really nice guys, and for having only met them that week, I owe them one. The night we went to see the band, I was pretty drunk. So drunk, in fact, that I needed to lie down, and it appeared the only place for that was the back seat of the Regal. Here they are, three people I just met, and got me settled in - one of them found a blanket and covered me with it. Oh, did I mention it was about zero degrees? Well, I got back to Abby's parents house and slept it off.

Of course, during this week that I was gone from Baton Rouge, we had classes at law school. Like I said, this was my last semester, and I really didn't care. I did call my professors and claimed car trouble when I went out of town the last weekend. Car in the garage and all that. I had no misconceptions. This pretty much shot any chance I had of making good grades. I just wanted to pass. To my credit, I did bring my books and outlines and most every afternoon that week, I went to the library and studied.

We left on Saturday for Baton Rouge, The return trip was without incident. My car was still at Tuscaloosa. We turned in the rental, patched up the broken window, and I dropped Abby of at New Orleans. It was Sunday morning, and I went back to Baton Rouge and slept.

I don't know if I will ever have a spur-of-the-moment adventure like that ever again, but I'm glad I did it. I did pass, with pretty much straight Cs across the board. It was worth it, and although I haven't heard from Abby in a while, I do thank her for a good time and a good road trip friend.

Tough Guys

A lot of the more recent films lack something that the older films made twenty years ago or more have: tough guys. A tough guy is someone who isn't physically imposing (that's why Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean Claude Van Damme aren't tough guys) and who isn't afraid to get in a fight and get bloodied. My favorite tough guy is George Kennedy. Some of my other favorite tough guys are Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Sean Connery and Robert Mitchum. I should include John Wayne as a tough guy, but he, at six feet four, may be too physically imposing to be a tough guy. Nah, he's the Duke. He's included. One actor that is frequently mentioned as a tough guy that I don't know should be included is Humphrey Bogart. He talked tough in his films, and may have been in a scrap or two, but I don't know if he got in a down and dirty fight, would he be believable as the winner? Something about him says he's a good actor, but not a tough guy.

This leads me to the inevitable questions. Are there tough guys today? You betcha. There may not be as many and they may take some roles that aren't "tough guy" roles, but I feel they could definitely hold their own with the tough guys from yesteryear. Some of the tough guys of today are Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Samuel L. Jackson, Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, and Matthew McConaghey (see Reign of Fire).

Coffee Nerd

My new toy. A coffee roaster. My brother turned me on to roasting your own coffee beans. The roaster is a basic model, well under a hundred dollars. The green coffee beans keep forever in the freezer and cost about the same as regular ground coffee. Why do it? The smell of fresh roasted beans, the sound of the grinder and it just seems cool.

Spanish Town parade

I had a chance to ride on a float for the Baton Rouge Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade. This is probably the biggest parade in Baton Rouge. I was riding with the local sci-fi crew, BabelCon. I figured this was a good time to represent the Klingon Empire, so I went in Klingon uniform. Here I am:



Yep, I am a total geek.
Friday night, the riders met at the float to load up our throws.  The float was to leave where it was parked (at the Celtic Society building) at 6:00 a.m.
Saturday for the Parade.  

The temperature was just above freezing. The ride over there was most fun.

One problem was that unless you were very careful with your throws, the beads tangled worse than a hyperactive 6-year-old trying to roll up a dozen strings of barbed wire.  I spent a good deal of my time untangling throws.

The crowd had to have been around a hundred thousand!  Wow!  Lots of them yelled out "Klingon!" or "Qa'Pla!"  They got the best throws.  We finished in about an hour and the float took us back to our cars.

Second verse . . .

Today at work we had a "rush" project. The insurance code was re-numbered by our esteemed legislature. Our project was to proofread to see that the "new" numbers for the statute matched the "old" numbered referenced in the bill. Also, we had to check other statute references for accuracy. Never mind the fact that we did THE SAME EXACT JOB about six weeks ago. Oh, well, I can think of worse ways to waste a day at work.

Saw the trailer for the new ST film . . . young kid, reckless, add a vintage Corvette, it all adds up to James Tiberius Kirk.

The local Wal-Mart installed a coinstar machine that counts your change. I thought those were a ripoff, because they took almost ten percent as a fee - but then discovered that if you get an Amazon gift card, you get 100%. Of course, I'm always getting stuff there, so that is a good deal. So, I take my big-ass jug to Wal-Mart and find out that machine doesn't offer Amazon . . . only cash voucher with the ten percent penalty. So, I guess I'm going to go back to the usual Albertsons, unless they quit offering the gift card. In that case, I may just bite the bullet to get rid of my change.

Got a new all in one printer. It is an Epson 600. So far I love it! Did my taxes last weekend and printed out the return and stuff.

High expectations for LSU baseball. Ranked 1st preseason in one poll. 2nd in two others. Keeping fingers crossed for national signing day.