Postcard from Mexico

That's his "I'm on vacation and you're not" face... hmph. (But I'm glad you're back, buddy. Sorry I missed you last weekend)

International Relations

I was driving to Austin last Friday and getting in my NPR fix at the same time before I hit Waco and found the funniest Frenchman ever! On The World, they were interviewing him about his blog (vlog?) which he makes in his living room with an American flag that he went out and bought. Easily the best step forward in Franco-American relations since they began exporting Champagne. So stop by and say Bonjour America!

(In a totally related thought, I'm going to have to learn French before the 18th episode. I had way too much trouble with episode 9 (in French), but I know it had to do with Dick Cheney which, in French, sounds very much like dictionary. Thank goodness for the pictures.)

(In yet another related note, Cyrille sang a song in a recent video which included the refrain "War is bad, love is good, guns are bad, sex is good" to which one of his commenters noted that in Texas it's somewhat the opposite: sex is bad, guns are good. Like I needed reminding how red my state is. Uggh.)

Update

We won. It's over - at least for the moment. With my luck, however, this guy is going to appeal and I'm going to have to school him on appellate procedure as well.

Am I The Only Non-World Traveler?

Okay, if Daniel is most likely to wind up in a third-world country (see last post), my oldest brother Steve is most likely to get stuck in an emerging world power.

Steve's stuck in China a little longer than he expected because he's spiked a mild fever. It turns out they won't let you leave if you're sick. Hopefully he feels better soon so that he can get himself back home for a few days before he has to leave again for Germany.

These brothers of mine, I swear, are making me feel so much like a homebody.

Un Vacación en la Playa del Carmen

Let me preface this post by saying that even though I am the third of four kids, I am the good one. This is my brother, Daniel. He's number four.

Although he's the youngest, Daniel is easily the one of us most likely to end up in a third-world country at any given moment.

As we speak he's in Mexico for the next couple of weeks. He told our parents he was going a few days before he left which was probably a good idea. They would have noticed that he wasn't around the house by how clean it was staying.

Of course, Daniel usually does give notice when he's leaving the United States. When he was 16, he booked a trip to Guatemala for the summer, found himself a place to stay, and enrolled himself in a Spanish school down there. He told our parents he was going once he figured out that he was too young to get a passport on his own. I think my mother spent the next two months in church, all the while I was getting emails about crashing motorcycles, how he was living in the shadow of a volcano, drinking beer and professing his love to the señoritas when he wasn't "learning to speak Spanish" - which seems like it was most of the time. Once Daniel got back, our father confiscated his passport until he turned 18. Killjoy.

This go around, he's in Mexico where he's staying in a hotel where one of the little girls he flirts with through AOL instant messenger works. (Ain't technology great?) He's getting a great discount because - get this - they have convinced the management that he is her long-lost cousin. How on earth he is managing to convince anyone that he is enthically hispanic is beyond me (just look at the picture!), but never let it be said that he doesn't have nerve. They've probably told the hotel that she has a crazy gringo aunt. Anything happens to him down there and I'm betting that my mother will not disabuse them of that notion.

I've only gotten one email so far, and it was a dull one. Of course, he needed to know how to get cash out of his credit card so he asked me to forward the message on to Mom and Dad so that probably has something to do with the lack of fun details. I can't wait until after they let him know how to get money - then maybe he'll send me the scoop. Whatever he may put in the messages he intends for the parents to see, I know he's not behaving as well as he lets on.

So happy Spring Break, everyone. And lots of fun wishes to mi hermanito, the Mexican!

The Elephant in the Room

I talked to Kendall tonight, he's one of the funniest people I know and the only person who's gotten us both kicked out of a maternity ward(!), and I'm glad he's back. Of course, a lot of our conversation focused on the crazy stuff we did "in the good old days." At one point, we were both marvelling that everyone in our group turned out well and that it's astounding that we all made it solidly into our mid-20s. And as soon as it was out of our mouths, though, we remembered that not everyone made it.

It amazes me that talking to a good friend can make me so happy and so sad at the same time. The one thing we both agreed on: you don't get a group of friends like we had more than once. And even then it was a damn miracle.

All the same, I'm so grateful he turned up again. And I know Keith is glad to have him back too.

A Couple of Random Things

* I am supremely bummed that one of my favorite people was just diagnosed with cancer. Ann Richards is smart, funny, and a real Texas treasure. Aim some prayers toward Houston and M.D. Anderson from her, okay? The world would be less interesting without her in it.

* My favorite Oscar winner is Larry McMurtry. Not only did he write The Last Picture Show (and, oh yeah, some flick called Brokeback Mountain), but he was the only winner to thank his lawyers in his acceptance speech. That wasn't quite what I meant in my last post, but hey, I'm all about recognizing a job well done.

* While thinking about the Oscar winners, did anyone notice that darn near everyone thanked their Mom? How can the rest of us compete with that? Mom, I really appreciate you and think you do a great job of, well, Momming for me. I wouldn't hold my breath on being thanked at the Oscars, though.

* I thought I was ready for it to be summer and for the weather to be great, but it turns out I was wrong. They're predicting 85 degree weather again this weekend. I got sunburned last weekend. You know, we usually joke here in Texas that we have four seasons: November, December, January, and summer. This year we're down to 2: fall, summer. I think I may be getting cheated out of a spring.

* When you're typing too fast and you accidentally title a post "A Couple of Random Thongs," it's a little disconcerting to have the person reading over your shoulder go "Man, I miss college." I don't want to know. I just hope they weren't his.

Email Happiness

From: [CLIENT]
Sent: Sat 3/4/2006 3:33 PM
To: Lisa
Subject: THANKS

Lisa-

I have been trying to get things done around the house but, I wanted to stop and say "THANKS" for all of your HELP and SUPPORT.....

We would be half way where we are today on this case, if you were not involved...

Thanks Again,

[Client]

_________________________________

People like this make me love my job. I try to say thank you to people who have done a good job for me. I have written nice letters to supervisors, I have sent thank you cards, and I just generally try to acknowledge people for a job well done. And this is why. Hopefully it will make someone else feel as appreciated as I do.

I think most people feel in some way that they are underpaid, underappreciated, or that their talents go underutilized in what they do. Everybody will want to do a good job for you if you do your part to remind them that you appreciate it.

Random Trivia

Weird fact of the day: Cats will not eat anything that they can't smell.

I guess this is why Hush wants "new" dry food all the time - the smell hasn't worn off.


For what it's worth, this entire post was a shameless pretense for putting a picture on here for some color. I am still really enjoying my new camera so I might as well put it to use.

Shot in the Foot By A Job Well Done

I don't know if it ever made my "to do before 30" list(s) I've posted here before, but one of these days I'm going to go to the Kentucky Derby. It looked like the stars were aligned for me not only to go this year, but to be completely reimbursed for the trip. We had depositions scheduled in Kentucky for March but we were going to move them back a couple months and make it out around Derby time.

Just my luck though, we scared the other side enough so that they settled the case. Yeah, yeah, it's good for our clients, but I never get to have any fun. So my non-deductible, non-reimbursable, non-defrayed trip will probably come another year. Before I'm 30.

A Little Hormonal

My friend Kendall called this morning! He's the proud father of a three-week old little boy and things around his house are, well, a little nuts. I asked how his wife was doing, and all he told me was "Last night she was standing in the middle of the bed, her head was spinning around, and she was spitting pea soup."

Poor guy. Hope it passes quickly.