The Crunch Club

My sisters and I were very close growing up. Currently our ages are 29, 30, and 31. My sisters are so close in age that they are less than a full year apart, their birthdays fall on October 21st and the 26th and so for 5 days they are the same age. They are named after the sisters on Bewitched Samantha and Sabrina even though when I was a kid they went by Dena and Precious. (Dena now goes by Sam and Precious is her real first name)

When we were little we always hung out together. I can remember the distinct sound our "Big Wheels" and "Green Machines" made as we raced down the asphalt on Squires drive in the Colony. We swam together in creeks and ponds, we climbed trees and played soccer and kickball, and no matter what we always took care of each other.

One summer, I recall us starting our own club - The Crunch Club. We got the name becuase we always went around saying, "Crunch Y0ur Cookie" and then making a hand gesture in that person's face like the crunching of a cookie. I adored my sisters, I loved those times of hanging out with them and I never really missed not having a brother.

My sisters did everything I did - they rode bikes with me, went fishing with me, taught me how to do cartwheels and match my clothes. They taught me how to play jacks and jump rope, and crossword puzzles, and how to cheer. We made cakes in their easy-bake oven and funny faces on our light-brite. We played Hungry, Hungry Hippos, Shoots and Ladders, and Monopoly until the games were worn out.

My sisters made mums for my homecoming dates and helped me fix my hair. When I was really little and we went on long trips they would let me stretch out in the back seat my head on one of their laps and my feet on the other. They were, and still are my best friends.

I had a great childhood because of my sisters, and I always appreciated the fact that they included me in everything they did, even in the silly things, like The Crunch Club.

Blog Jacket

The Future of Blog clothing and hosting is here!

I finally got Blog Jacket redesigned. It is clean and simple and very, very mini-mal.

I have the portfolio page up so if you haven't had a chance to see some of my designs from the template page here, then you can look there for a few of them. I have a myriad of templates done that I want to resell, but I am still working on the shopping cart for those, I just wanted to get the site working so that we could start advertising the hosting and get people to use us for their sites.

Please check out the site and let me know if you see any typos, or weird wording, or mistakes!

You guys and gals are the best!

Texas Weather

Yesterday was so hot that I got a sunburn walking from my car into my office building after lunch. It literally felt like a gas burner was turned on high and was hovering inches over body. My car thermometer read 106 degrees, but to me it felt hotter. It was so hot that I was reminded of those people melting in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when they opened the Ark of the Covenant. I was roasting like corn on the cob at the State Fair...

And now this morning I had the heater on in the car.

It was 62 degrees on the way in to work this morning. Now that might not seem all that cool, but when your body is used to 106, then 62 is practically freezing. It was so cool that I had to warm myself up with an egg mcmuffin from McDonalds.

And speaking of McDonalds - I have eaten there 4 times this month - 4 TIMES! What? I haven't eaten at McDonalds 4 times in the last 4 years - I think of it as trash food, but I read this article about how the Egg McMuffin was not a bad breakfast option and so I have been eating them again. Ugh.

So today it is nice and cool here in Texas and I am really looking forward to Fall and patio dining, and barbecues, and evening coffee, and cozy sweaters, and most of all - snuggling.

He's My Everything

When I was a youth leader I had the opportunity to meet many people from all over the world that had come to Texas either for seminary or to be part of Tom Nelson's discipleship program. During that time, I met a girl named Flor from Argentina who asked me, "Who is God to you?"

This was a great question and I thought about it for a moment. I have been a Christian since the age of 5 and all my life God has always been there for me. Like a security blanket, when everything else around me was failing in my life, God was always the one constant that I could count on.

Some people think of religion as a crutch for people who are weak or people who are afraid to face the world alone. Since I have known God since the age of five I have never really had to face the world alone, but I can't imagine living my life without him.

So back to Flor's question...

I told her, "God is my everything. He is like a father and a friend. He is someone that I can always call on for help and for strength, and no matter what happens in life I know that he is in control."

So who is God to you?

Mavs ManiAAC First Appearance

Just got in from a great night. We welcomed 200 ladies into the AAC, took lots of pictures with maniAAC fans, and even did a little bit of dancing.

"Basketball for Women One-on-One" is a night where ladies only Mavs fans get to come and see behind-the-scenes of Mavericks Basketball. They meet some of the players, the get to see the Mavs man dunk a few basketballs, the get dinner and there are prizes and drawings and a few other fun things for the women to do.

There are 5 of us rookies and we escorted women to the dining room in large groups and just talked with them and made sure that they had a good time. All was going well until I told this one sweet girl in a wheel chair that I would take her down to where they were eating in the elevator. We went up first by accident, then down to the wrong floor and then back up to where we began and finally someone showed us how to get to where we were going. Fortunately her mother was a good sport about it and so was she, but I was actually getting a little frazzled! It was as if I was holding them hostage in an elevator or something and it was fast becoming a real life panic room.

After the show was over we went out to dinner and the Mavs paid for it. People came up to us and asked us if we were Mavs dancers and we said yes and people applauded. It was just a little bit of celebrity but it felt real nice.

The ladies were super fun, I especially love the older ladies that want to get pictures and are so sweet and just wonderful to be around.

Lots of love my peeps!

A Blog Friend Weekend

This weekend was great. I don't get to meet many of my readers face-to-face, but when I do I find that it is always a treat. Some wonderful new friends, Amstaff Mom and her husband "Brian" came to my house last month for their first blogger party and last night they hosted the second blogger party and Cav came along and we all met her for the first time! (Wow, that was a logn sentence, probably some bad punctuation in there, sorry EM!)

Anywho, Amstaff Mom's house was lovely, I was especially fond of the rich brown color of the walls in the living room and the color f the carpet, and the counter tops. Everything was so open and inviting, I loved it. I also had the pleasure of staying the night and that was fun too! Meeting bloggers online and then staying the night at their house! Who would've thought.

We stayed up playing Buzz Word, Cranium, and Catch Phrase. One of my favorite lines from the night was when Cav said, "I always related KFC chicken to funerals because when I was growing up my grandmother died and everyone brought over buckets of KFC fried chicken" and without missing a beat, Roget, Jes' Husband said, "They did it because someone just kicked the bucket."

I almost busted a gut I laughed so hard.

Then later during catch phrase Cav passed on a word, later she asked, "What is a TOE-BA-GONE - and then she spelled it "TOBOGAAN" More shrill laughter was had by all.

Dinner was great too, Amstaff Mom made delicious spaghetti and we had garlic cheese bread and salad and Cav brought Tiramasu and KT made cookies - so good!

Then this morning when I was leaving Amstaff Mom made me take home my diet cokes that I brought and I didn't realize until later that she had stuffed the left over cookies in the box! Delighted I was! Thank AM!!!

Then today at church with my parents I had the pleasure of meeting blogger friend MSTHANG! Her real name is Sarah and I don't know her blog address at the moment so if you know it please provide it. She was a gem and she drove all the way from Michigan to see my sister and me and my mother. How cool is that? Very.

To cap off my evening I had my mav's dancing at the AAC in the underground practive stadium. It was really cool and afterwards some of the maniaacs went out to eat with the girl dancers. It was fun being with all the pretty girls, but I didn't really have much to talk about with them since it seems that all they do is dance and I like to dance about as much as any dude, but I want to talk about other stuff too. So I talked about movies that involved dancing and luckily there are quite a few of those and so I didn't feel like an uber dork surrouned by hot girls with nothing to say. It is against the rules to date the dancers so don't worry I won't be dating a Mavs dancer - besides, I met someone this weekend that I am WAY more interested in than any Mavs dancer.

Oh, and tomorrow night I have my first MAVS gig at the AAC. It is a one-on-one ladies basketball night. So there will be a few hundred women that I am supposed to mingle with - should be fun.

So that should catch you up-to-date with my life - what's new with yours?

Love. Love. Love.

I Hate to Admit it But...

I ran out of my Kenneth Cole Black cologne a couple of weeks ago. I like to smell good and this week I was feeling a little less than fresh and I needed to be somewhere - and so instead of showering I just spritzed myself all over with Febreeze.

I've decideded Febreeze will be my new fragrance. I even bought Febreeze scented Tide today.

Where's Eddo?

I was over at Nathan's site checking out his gorgeous wedding photos and I saw this picture of me in a tux. I just look really big, nothing special, but I thought I would share and if you want to check out some more photos of his wedding and his beautiful wife, then click here.

Nathan & Chelli June 11, 2005

click picture for larger image

Opportunity Lost

"Ability is nothing without opportunity." -Napoleon Bonaparte.

At 29 I have accomplished everything that I thought I would accomplish in the first 3 decades of my life, except a wife and a couple of children, but that topic is for an entirely different post.

At each stage of my life I always seem to be involved with a group or organization that doesn't really use me to my full potential. I have big dreams, a bevy of creativy, and if you ask a select handful of people that I hypnotized, they would tell you that I am a visionary!

I used to work as a High School leader and there were so many times that I had ideas that seemed to fall on deaf ears. After being a leader for 5 years I watched new leaders given opportunities and responsibilities that should have fallen to the more experienced leaders. I understand that it is important to train new people and to give them new challegnes, but you have to reward the people that have paid their dues.

Most of the time I find that I am limited at work. In the past 3 years in my current position I have "raised my hand" repeatedly when my boss has asked a question and my hand is always ignored.

29 years of living and I feel like a race horse stuck behind the gate, when the gun is fired, my gate isn't opened. Filled with so much ability and desire I beg to be released so that I can run full throttle with my ideas, but instead I amled back to the stables, my head hung in disappointment.

Even more disheartening is sitting back and watching other less experienced and less abled people running free. Time and money is spent training them and getting them into shape when they already have a perfect work horse for the job - me.

So it's time to take over the reins...

Over the last 6 months I have been conjuring up some ways to get out from behind this lock and key, but I haven't made it out quite yet. When I do get free just call me Seabiscuit, cause once I am let loose, I am going to be unbeatable and there will be no more opportunities lost.

Straight from the Couch Volume I

LOST

Who is watching it? If you aren't, then you are missing one of the greatest shows on the telly. After so much build up last year of the hatch and what was going to be in the hatch, I thought surely they would open the hatch and that inside there would be nothing more than a big black hole filled with bats or something. Another thought I had was that it would transport you to another dimension - which I think is a great idea.

So what WAS in the hatch? It was a dude! And not just any dude either, but a dude that Jack had met years before while running in a big stadium. And the guy had been living in this hole and he had running water and electricty! How was that possible? How was he locked in a big hole in the ground for who knows how long? Where did he get food? And what happened to all the people that took off on the raft? THIS SHOW IS BLOWING MY MIND!!!


Invasion

I watched Invasion after LOST and it was a snorefest. They didn't add enough supernatural elements to make it cool. I

Kitchen Confidential

Who watched KC this week? I thought it was decent. It reminds me of the cast of ER if the cast of ER was suddenly thrust into a kitchen. I plan to check it out again.

Just Jes - Behind the Blog

A Posted Note Exclusive

Many of you know Jessica F. as Jes of Just Say Jes. But before she was Just Say Jes or Jessica F. she was Jessica H. It is amazing how life shapes us and molds us and how getting married and starting your own personal blog can change your life forever... this is her story.

Jes grew up in a happy home with a very loving mother and father. What her parents loved most about her was her hair and how it grew so rapidly. From Afro's to chignon's there was nothing that they couldn't do wtih baby Jes' hair.

The years went by peacefully for most of Jes' early childhood until one day her brother smashed her operation game after Jes had beaten him repeatedly at removing the funny bone. This seemed to be a critical time for Jes and she didn't adjust well to her brothers temper tantrums. Despite being an easy-going child she soon had a few tantrums of her own.

Mischevious and deceitful her mother actually had her audition for the hit children's movie - Problem Child. Jes didn't get the part but the producer agreed that this girl definitely was a problem.

Distraught and not knowing what else to do, Jes' parents decided to enroll Jes into a foreign exchange student program. Jes lived in Mexico for a year while Annunciata moved in with Jessica's family. The year in Mexico seemed to do Jes some good and she returned to the states fluent in Spanish and with a new appreciation for air conditioning and hot water.

For a time it seemed that Jes' problems were over and for the most part they were. In junior high she was a lively kid with an active imagination.She loved to play poker, 52 pick up, black jack and of course Spades. Pippy Longstocking was one of her idols and so she took to wearing her hair in cute pig tales as well. She loved to sing "I am Pippy Longstocking" so much that soon people actually started to call her "Pippy".

High School proved to be more challenging for such a bright young girl. Dreams, visions, goals, she had them all, but where did she focus her talents? Drama! Jes became captain of the drama team and played many roles including: My Fair Lady; Devil in a Blue Dress; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; King Lear; A Christmas Carol; and Rent. She loved the stage and the stage loved her back.

High School was a cake walk for Jes and soon she was searching for something more in her acting career and so she went off and joined the Circus. Jes did not just join any cicus, oh no, the young girl lightened her locks and became a key member of Cirque De Soleil. A brilliant contortionist, she was able to twist herself into the hearts of everyone that saw her perform.

After the Circus she decided to go to college and there the drudgery of schoolwork plunged her into a deep depression where she only found solace by dressing goth. Forgoeing the Goth after college she met a wonderful man years later and married him. A wonderful man she met at Dave and Buster's and decided to marry after they hopped into a photo booth that would sketch your offspring. Roger was so delighted with the picture of their first born that he got down on one knee and popped the question. Here is a picture of that child.

Now Jessica lives in Dallas with her husband Roger. Blogging has helped Jessica ease into an otherwise cruel world and she has found shelter and comfort in the blogosphere's embrace. Embrace her now - Check out her wonderful blog and her present life at www.justsayjes.com

Stop Beating Around The Bush!!!

I was going to post this under my "How to Annoy Me" section, but I felt like venting here today.

One of my biggest pet peeves, or maybe it is the biggest pet peeve I have, is beating around the bush.

When someone wants to know something instead of just coming out and asking it they ask 10 questions that lead up to what it is that they want to ask.

I don't know if it is American culture or just human nature, but if you want something from Eddo just come out and ask me.

Don't use this approach...

"Hey Eddo, what are you doing this weekend?"

"I am not sure yet, laundry, work, I don't know"

"Have you seen Black Hawk Down?"

"Yes, and I hated it."

"Did you see We Were Soldiers?"

"Yes, I really liked it"

"Did you watch Saving Private Ryan?"

"Yes, what is your point"

"Well, this weekend that new movie Lords of War is coming out and I was wondering if you wanted to go and see it."

"No. I did want to see it, but you annoyed me while you were asking me if I wanted to see it and now I don't want to see it anymore!"

Lately I seem to be surrounded by people who can't just ask the question, instead they want to beat around the bush and waste valuable eddie time.

Just this morning Maksim called and said, "What are you doing?" What does it matter what I am doing, what do you freakin' want? Just spit it out!

I am really venting this morning because I just called Cingular and they asked like 18 questions about a customer and I finally said, "I just want to disconnect the phone what is the point of all these questions?" And he replied, "Well, you called the wrong department I will have to transfer you." It is a good thing I can't teleport myself because that man would have had some serious bodily injuries to deal with today.

I am in no mood for too many questions people. NO MOOD.

Now let's all work on being more direct.

Full Frontal Hugs for everyone!

Numa Numa Steve

A Posted Note Exclusive!

Many of you know and freakin' love Steve... what you don't know is that I have found some footage of him when he was much younger, but still just as crazy as he is today.

Click Here

This video helped launch his explosive singing career... in Romania.

I AM A MAVS MANIAAC!!! Almost...

I started Mavs ManiAAC Bootcamp tonight - I literally just got home from the two hour training that really overwhelmed me more than I thought it would.

We introduced ourselves, we told how much we weighed, and then we got down to business and started dancing. There were only 4 new guys and about 14 ManiAAC's that knew all the dance steps and had to go through the dances that they already knew so that we could catch up.

Despite the fact that the average weight in the room was about 300 they had us dancing and dancing almost non-stop. I was breathing so hard at one point that I thought I was going to pass out. Our instructor, Chelle, teaches the Mavs Dancers as well and she did not cut us any slack!

She went from room to room and got us started and then moved to the other room where the Mavs girls were. I am extremely excited about getting to dance with them! Rockin'!

They told us that if we make it through the training, work hard, show up on time, and we are excited then we will have no problem making the roster.

Pumped I was, pumped I am.

The great thing about being a ManiAAC is that the classes are a great workout and there are a couple of guys on the team that are straight up skinny and so I don't have to worry about losing weight and getting booted off the team! Yeah!

So, I would say right now I am 90% going to be a ManiAAC this year and I am SUMO excited.

Love you all.

It's a PEE Post

I only recently learned that Asparagus makes your PEE smell funny. I had it on Saturday night and then my PEE smelled funny for exactly 68.2 hours after I had eaten the Asparagus. What does that mean?

Secondly, I am a dude, and I ALWAYS stand when I PEE. However, recently I learned that some dudes like to SIT AND PEE! WHAT? WHY?

The thought of sitting and PEEING when I can stand and PEE is totally vexing. I am so vexed right now.

Guys that read this, I don't want to know, I don't EVEN want to know if you sit when you pee, just do me this favor - cease and desist with the sit and PEE. We are men and this is one BLESSING we got from God, do not throw it in his face!

Human Prozac

I am currently reading Four Blind Mice by James Patterson. Alex Cross is the protagonist in the story and if you aren't a reader then you might have seen "Kiss the Girls" or "Along Came a Spider" which were both movies based on novels by Patterson.

Cross is a cool guy. Calm. Collected. Grounded. One thing I love about his character is that he is very genuine and loving with his family and his friends. This post isn't about Four Blind Mice, but about a simple line from the book that made me stop and think about my friends.

Alex Cross: "I loved being with Samson. Always had, always would."

I paused when I read this line and I thought about my close friends and that wonderful feeling of being with them. Most of my closest friends and family don't live in Plano and so when I get to see good friends it is extremely special to me. (Braun, Alan, Jimmy, Joe, why did ya'll move so far away!)

I am not sure what it is like for girls, but I know for guys that there is just something great about being with your best buds. You can easily slip into "friend speak" where you know all the inside jokes, you know the right buttons to push to get a rise or a laugh, and you know that come hell or high water these friends will always have your back.

When I read that line from Four Blind Mice I paused and thought about who I am the most comfortable around on the entire planet and I have to say it is Cody Miller. Not that I don't have many buddies that I feel comfortable around(Dumas, Nate Dawg you know I love you guys), but Cody is like human Prozac, to be around him is like getting a second-hand high at a Dave Mathews concert. You never get tired of him and now that I think about it when I am around him I always have the munchies.

Cody is a kid that I mentored when he was in High School. He is now 22 and he recently lost his dad. He amazes me everyday at how well he has stepped up to the plate and has taken care of his mom and other household duties. Recently he started dating a great girl named Amy and he started EMT school, despite the fact that he is crazy busy, he still puts God and his family first.

Fortunately, I don't need Prozac all that often, but when times get crazy and I just want to chill, I give Cody a call. I love not only being around him, but his entire family is a blast and I love them to pieces.

Code man, if you are reading this, thanks for being such a blessing. I love you tons.

Who is your human Prozac?

Skin Game

I graduated from Texas Women's University(195 men 4000 women) and at TWU I found that women tended to still dress scantily even when there were very few men around to admire them.

I have also been told by some girls that other girls showed off their goodies to compete with other women. Sort of like "The Plastics" on Mean Girls.

Ex: If Jenny can wear a tight black mini and fishnet hose, then I can too, AND I am going to wear this top that looks like lingerie.

What do you ladies think? Do you ever wear something that shows off your kibbles and bits just to outdo your female neighbors? Or do you do it just for us men?

Brooke Burke!

This Post Rated NFMTR (Not for Mom to Read!)

Ben inspired this post by pointing out the obvious.

I recall when I first saw this picture of Brooke. Air-brushed to goddess-like perfection she wowed me with her exotic beauty. I know she hosted "Wild On E!" and that the E had nothing to do with Eddie, but I always pretended that it did. Oh, don't be so quick to judge, you would have too if you were a man with a name that begins with E! Throw me a bone here, I am a single christian dude who hasn't had a date in a year!

Now we get to watch Brooke on Rockstar INXS and every week her clothes become more and more revealing. It is as if they started with just one outfit and each week they just trimmed off a little bit of fabric and voila - its a "new" mini mini skirt!

I'd like for all of my women readers to believe that I am not like most guys, but in truth, I am still just a dude who likes women. I don't objectify them, I don't expect all women to look like Brooke, but I can appreciate God's design - shoot, he created Eve for Adam and I believe he created Brooke for me - the same way he created Rachel McAdams for me, unfortunately he just dropped them both in the wrong garden along with Eva Longoria and Carmen Electra.

Love Thy Neighbor

In the mornings when I walked out of my door I was often greeted by one of my neighbors. It wasn't the normal greeting of two people going to work, nope, it was me fully dressed and ready to start my day and my neighbor laying half in his house and half out half-dressed and puffing on a Marlboro. Bloodshot eyes and pale skin lingered in my memory the way the stale odor of the cigarettes lingered in the portico.

Some mornings I wasn't greeted by my neighbor, but by my neighbors trash which always seemed to be oozing some yellowish murky substance that reminded me of egg yolks mixed with beer.

Marie Calendar's macaroni and cheese, Stouffers lasagna, and Marlboro Red's in a box seemed to be the mainstay's of my neighbors diet.

I could always tell when my neighbor had recently opened the door of his apartment because it smelled old and used and I couldn't imagine anyone actually living in that stench.

Then I got new neighbors.

The apartment complex came in and re-carpeted the apartment as well as gave it a fresh coat of paint and an overall sanitizing. I noticed the new neighbors moving some stuff in and one of the girls was very cute and Asian. I was hopeful and excited. After looking at a cracked-out pasty white man for a year, Mimi from the Drew Carey show would have looked hot.

Unfortunately, the Asian girl was apparently just a friend. My new neighbor was pregnant and about 25. I think her mother lives with her. Everyday I come home and the poritco is clean and it smells of the most wonderful lavender fabric softener. In the mornings the air is redolent with the smell of breakfast cooking - just this morning it was fresh blueberry muffins.

I almost never see my neighbors, I never hear them, I never see them fighting or arguing or slamming doors. They are practically non-existent and I love them.

I didn't realize how much stress my old neighbors caused me, but now that I have good ones I appreciate them even more.

Passenger 57

Yesterday I went the entire day without realizing that it was the anniversary of 9/11. I sat in my apartment most of the day watching football and doing design work.

I retired at the early hour of 11pm and sank blissfully into my bed and wrapped myself in my cool white sheets.

I slept. Then the dream came.

For some reason I was in the military and I was getting to go home - from where I don't know. I remember that I was going home with a friend and we were the only two in a private jet. In this particular jet the seats faced each other. Everything was going smoothly and suddenly the plane started going down. I gripped the seat tightly and quickly strapped on my seatbelt. The plane shook violently and I could see through the window that the plane was spinning out of control. Fear gripped my stomach and I looked across at my friend and I yelled out, "We are going down!"

I pressed my eyes tightly together and braced for impact. I said a quick prayer of forgiveness and asked the lord to please take me to heaven despite the fact that lately I haven't been on my best Christian behavior. Then suddenly I realized that my friend was going to go to hell and so I yelled out, "Hey, do you want to go to Heaven or Hell?" He looked at me puzzled and I yelled out, "repeat after me!" I could barely breathe or even think straight. My eyes were still shut tight, fear was replaced by resignation and I said, "Dear God" and then I waited for my friend to repeat and he did! I continued, "Please come into my heart and forgive me of my sins." I kep the prayer short and as soon as he was done saying it the plane leveled out and we landed without a problem.

When my dreams are this vivd I often look for a meaning within them. This time I didn't have to look very hard. So often I put off telling close friends about God because I fear their rejection. I crave acceptance and so I don't share the good news of Christ because most people don't want to hear it.

The crazy thing is that I see my friends who aren't Christians searching for meaning and happiness in their careers, or their relationships and in the end they only find emptiness. They have actually come to me and said, "Eddie, I feel empty." They ask me why I am happy and I say God and they act like I am trying to sell them Amway.

I didn't accept my faith in Christ blindly and I don't expect others to do so either. I have studied other religions and done research and I always reach the same conclusion - There is a God and I believe in him and if there isn't, what have I lost really?

Rockstar INXS

Who else is watching? WHO?

Rockstar INXS is the best reality show on television, it blows my mind how good these singers are! Can I get an AMEN!

Random Acts of Inquisitiveness

Act I - Jason's Deli

The other night I entered Jason's Deli and I was wearing my shirt that read, "Do you know my race?" on the front. I get asked about my race so often that it became a joke and so Mel Pannell from Waco (Sic'em Bears) made me the aforementioned shirt.

I stood at the counter about to order my creamy broccoli and cheese soup, and of course the all-you-can-eat salad bar, when the guy waiting on me says, "You must be Patrick's brother!" and I said, "Nope, is Patrick's brother big and ugly?" and he said, "I don't know, but we don't know his race either, we hope it's human." I gave him a courtesy chuckle and moved on.

As I paid my tab part of me really wished that I could meet this Patrick and his brother because very rarely do people say I look like anyone else and I think it would be cool to have an actual brother named Patrick. I think I would call him "Trick" for short instead of Pat because I have never been a big fan of the name "Pat" as a man's name because of "Pat" from SNL. I also think the nickname "Trick" would rock and I am thinking about implementing it for myself. ("Say Trick, what it is!" See how cool that sounds.)

Act II - The UPS Store

"You know that guy you are holding in your hand was as tall as you and he weighed only 160 pounds." I looked over to see who was talking to me and it was an elderly gent with a mustache. He was wearing a straw hat and in his pants he had tucked in his striped shirt and his ample stomach. I smiled and replied, "Alexander Hamilton? ( I was holding a 20 dollar bill)" and he said, "Yep". For some reason I could easily picture him with a crooked pipe in his mouth saying, "Elementary my dear Watson."

I didn't really know what to say and so I just stood there and then he continued without provocation, "Hamilton always road his horse with his back stuck up straight as a hickory tree and that is why the called him 'Old Hickory'". Of course this was news to me because "Obscure Presidential Info" was a class I never took in college or high school. Having no response for him I said, "Well, I weigh 330." And without missing a beat the Sherlock Holmes feller said, "Harold Taft was the only president to ever weigh more than 300 pounds. Back in colonial times the houses were built so shoddily that people had to reinforce the floors of their homes if they knew Taft was coming for a visit." I responded with a "You don't say" and I was actually intrigued by all of this new information. I was tempted to ask him, "Are you a college professor?", But I was out of time and past experience has taught me that this could lead into a long, long discussion, and I had to get back to work.

As I have mentioned once or twice before on this site, crazy people are drawn to me, and now I am wondering if that circle is broadening just a bit to include "random strangers with nothing better to do than to chat up other strangers". Like the crazy people, I welcome them with open arms.

How Japan Came to Be

Once upon a time there was an emperor of China who wanted to live forever. He was a great emperor who had united China as one nation. He tasked many of the best doctors and scientists in his empire to bring him a medicine that would help increase his life, however, they all failed and so the emperor killed them.

Finally, the emperor found one man who said he could make this medicine, but he needed 500 teenage boys and 500 teenage girls and 2 large boats. He also requested lots of food and told the emperor it would take a long time to test the medicine and he would need all of these boys and girls to help him with the testing of the medicine. The emperor believed the brilliant scientists and gave him everything that he requested. That man took the young girls and boys to the island of Japan and started a whole new country.

Japanese is a derivative of Chinese and if you look closely at a lot of the Japanese characters you will notice that they are a less complex version of the same Chinese characters. As the years passed on Japan the original characters were broken down and this new language was developed.

So now you have the new Posted Note look with an inspiring story to enjoy it with.

Mav's ManiAAC Update

Last night I went to the Miller's house and Travis Miller helped me film my audition tape. I must give MAD PROPS TO TRAVIS MILLER becuase he not only took the time to help me film the video, he also helped guide me down a creative path that is sure to get me at least in person audition.

I so wish that I new how to convert VHS to Digital so I could play the video for you, maybe I will figure it out this week. I have two tapes and so the one I don't send in I can use to try to make digital copies.

I start out on the video with Shaun(Travis' Brother-in-Law) and I looking at the computer discussing music choices, Shaun says, "I know, try this one" and a classical song comes on and I start ballet dancing. I cut the music and we start looking for songs again and then the scene cuts to me doing Riverdance with my shirt tied up so my belly is hanging out.

Then I do the interview, and then I dance for real to Kanye West's song Gold Digger in an afro and glasses and then I dance sans afro in a Superman shirt which I take completely off and I dance topless for a bit.

Then at the end there is a short blooper reel where I made some mistakes in the interview and me dancing to the Black-Eyed-Peas Song "My Humps".

I am going to mail it here in a bit and I am extremely excited. Often times I get excited about doing something and then I can't get the video done in time and this time I did it!

Again, I have to say SUMO THANKS to Travis Miller. Travis, I FREAKIN' LOVE YOU MAN!

Peace.

Private Parts

A Conversation in Waco with Amy while watching football.

Amy: "Did you see that? That Ref just totally Picked his Privates."

Me: "We normally just call it scratching..."

Amy: "Wait, maybe he'll do it again, it's not scratching, he is picking at them." She held up her hand and starting re-enacting. I just shook my head with an, "oh no she didn't" look.

Unfortunately, due to the way God designed men's bodies, sometimes it is hard to scratch where it itches, and when it itches, it is not something that can be ignored. Once I tried to ignore it and I had to focus really hard and the left side of my face started to go numb from the concentration.

So ladies, whether we are scratching or picking, know that it is NECESSARY and sometimes we don't even realize that we are doing it.

You are just Bitter because I am Better!

Over the weekend I went down to Waco to see my brother from another mother - Joe Bruner. And of course my sister that you can't resister - Amber - Joe's Wife - Hi Amber!

I love going to Waco because it means I get to workout with Joe, ride bikes with Joe, go to the movies with Joe, and pig out with Joe. In Plano I have no best friends and Joe really is like a brother. We are like Turk and JD from Scrubs. (If you don't watch Scrubs then you aren't really living)

The diet gets put on hold for the weekend and we eat cookies and mexican food and barbecue until we are about to explode!

Amber had to work most of the day Saturday so Joe and I went to The Transporter 2 with Jason "Kick Yo Butt" Statham. There were a couple of scenes that were ridiculously over-the-top, but the movie had everything I was expecting - explosions, butt-kicking, car chases, more explosions and a little more butt-kicking!

Saturday night Joe and I went to Ninfa's and it was so good. When I go to Ninfa's I get the Las Verdes which is three enchiladas, two stuffed with fajita chicken and one stuffed with pork. The sauce is creamy and then it is topped with avacado slices and served with the most wonderful rice and beans. It is so good that the world melts away and I am no longer aware of my surroundings. Joe had expected a number of people to join us and I told Joe numerous times, "No offense Buddy, but Ninfa's is so wonderful that I don't even need you to be with me in order for me to enjoy it."

Later that night we played cards and about 6 people showed up to play with us, some of which read Posted Note! Amy, Christy (who I accidentally called Tamara), Mark, and a few others were with us and we were all having a good time. For some reason I got talked into doing some of my Spartan cheers and this girl named Amy, who is very cool and does improv type stuff, said something like, "It was alright", and I just came right back with, "Oh, You are just bitter because I am better!" And everyone went "awww" like I was being serious and I totally wasn't. If people really knew me then they would know that despite what I say and do I am really humble as I know I am just a big dumb ape that every now and then has the ability to get people to laugh, and most of the time it is by mistake!

I left Waco hoping to get to see Cody Miller, but I couldn't reach him by phone and I thought maybe he and his family had loaded up the camper and went to Beaver's Bend or something and so I just came back to Plano and chillaxed a little.

So how was your weekend? Did you insult anyone?

Dallas Mavericks ManiAAC

Right now the Dallas Mavericks are taking auditions for "Beefy Guys Who Can Dance".

If you look up Beefy Guys Who Can Dance in the dictionary, my picture is right there next to the definition and so I am going to try out!

However, I don't have a way to video tape myslef. Anyone have a camcorder? If you do I will perform live for you in your living room! I only need 5 minutes of video footage and trust me, it will be worth your while.

One more thing, I need to have the tape done by Wednesday night.

I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

Much Love.

Shake that Laffy Taffy?

Thanks to all of you for visiting my site because of this song - You can download it for free by clicking here

If you click it, it will try to play, if you right click on it and then choose "Save Target As..." then you can save it to your computer and play it forever! So girl, shake that laffy taffy, that laffy taffy - and thanks for stopping by!

What? Shake that what? Laffy Taffy? This new song by D4L is straight up dirtay. This particular rap song will also make you kind of hungry, here are some of the lyrics...

I'm lookin fa mrs.bubble gum
I'm mr. chik-o-stick
I wanna (dun dun dunt)
(oh)Cuz you so thick
Gurlz call me Jolly Rancher

I wanted to copy all the lyrics here, but they were not PN Rated, so I had to pass.

When I hear this song I just shake my head and I change the station and then head over to the store for a Chic-0-stic and some Laffy Taffy, two of my favorite childhood candies!

Blogging is like a full-time job and I think I am about to be fired!!!

A complaint was filed against me for showing up to blogs late on a daily basis.

One such complaint said, "Eddie, you have not been coming to my blog on a daily basis, nor have you been coming multiples times per day which is mandatory..."

Other complaints from my superiors have not been near as nice-

"The comment you left on my blog was humorless and full of typos. Please report to my blog immediately and leave a full comment on why this is happening."

"You have been absent from my blog for over a week. This will not be tolerated. If this behavior persists you will be fired!"

I came up with a myriad of excuses but they wouldn't listen, instead they demanded that I adjust my blogitude and "get back to blogging!!"

Doors were slammed, fingers were pointed, hair was pulled, but in the end I know they are right.

In my defense, I have been busier at my real job and therefore, I haven't been able to comment on your blogs as much as I would like. Not to mention that with new found blogger friends like Amelia and Heather and Maria del Carmen Adela Lopez I seem to spend more time reading and less time commenting - my apologies.

I have also been blog patroling which is another one of my duties and I found two blogs that look promising - What's Up Craig and Jim. Stop by and give them a shout out for me and maybe I won't lose my blog job.

I love you all, I hope you have wonderful weekends filled with lots of fun or just plain relaxation.

Defining Fashion Moments

Dr. Phil says that everyone has defining moments and that if we look back at moments that changed our lives and who we are then we can learn a lot about ourselves...

Growing up my parents always made sure we had nice clothes. I use the word "nice" because they were, but rarely did they fall into the category of "Supercoolmusthave" clothes.

Now you might think that as a guy that I wouldn't have been fashion conscious growing up, however, I was raised with two older sisters, and an older foster sister for a good portion of my youth.

I distinctly remember the 80's and how everything seemed to revolve around the way you looked. The girls had super huge bangs, the guys had shaved lines on the sides of their heads and if you were lucky, your butt was covered with Calvin Klein underwear and Guess Jeans.

I could go chronicle my life in fashion here starting with parachute pants, guess jeans, Z Cavaricci's, and Marithe and Francois Girbaud, but this post isn't titled, "My Life in Pants."

What I do want to discuss is one particular vivid fashion moment that still burns with extreme clarity in my mind today.

I had just bought a pair of "Bitten Fly" guess jeans and I wanted everyone to know that I was wearing them. The little triangle on the butt of the jeans is the only way one would know that you were wearing them and so this forced me to tuck my shirt in which was something I rarely did because I was a little chunk.

The local grocery store in Sanger was called Burrus. Burrus seemed to employ a good portion of the cool kids and so when my mom asked me if I wanted to go to the grocery store I leapt at the opportunity. I pulled on my Guess Jeans, I tucked in my shirt, I sucked in my stomach and off we went to Burrus.

The crazy point of this story, (and yes it does have one) is that I went into Burrus and purposely walked around until I saw everyone that I knew from school. As soon as I would see someone I would turn around hoping that this cool person would see my Guess Jeans and therefore immediately think I was cool.

As I sit here in type this at Starbucks I am wearing Guess Jeans. The little triangle has gone by the wayside, but the jeans are still cool.

I think it is odd how after all these years that sometimes we still put on something and it makes us feel better about ourselves. Sometimes it is a pair of jeans, sometimes it is a Burberry scarf, and sometimes it is just carrying around a Starbucks cup of coffee.

So what makes you feel better about you?