Off the river

We came back last night from an awesome weekend in Brazoria County with Warlord's family. There were many laughs enjoyed.

Among the highlights:

• A Bill Clinton impersonation by Warlord that took the room down with laughter. Yvonne cried she laughed so hard.
• "Al's Big Hairy Deck"--not sure I should explain it's a boat dock or not.
• Shuffleboard marathon that resulted in the creation of Yvonne's Boneshaker nickname, the Assassin. So, I'm a Shaman who married an Assassin. Write that one down.
• Karaoke--Neil Diamond, Patsy Cline, good. Eminem, so baaaad.
• Dare devil speed boat rides and Warlord's bro did a 360 wake boarding.
• Barges passing on the Brazos River at 3:30am with Sauron-esque spotlights, yet in complete silence.

Editor's Note: I'm tweaking the site a bit. I might even get around to doing more buttons. New logo!

Long weekend

We're looking forward to some vacation relaxation this weekend. And the new X-men movie looks cool, so I'll have to check it out.

One thing you can do with the extra time is check out my brother's latest movie gig. He wrapped that puppy about 25 minutes ago.

Welcome to the jungles

It's still pretty busy in Casa Stullover. But, yesterday, we managed to somehow get spontaneously invited to a tour of a neighbor's house. We've been curious about this house ever since we've moved into the area. So, yesterday when we were all in the yard, he struck up a conversation and invited us to see his backyard jungle (indeed, it is a jungle, but very cool with trails) and that led to a whole house tour.

Among the highlights: a fully operational sauna, large elevated back porch, panoramic views out the living room of said jungle, a private study/office in addition to 4 bedrooms, and a very nice green shady feel all around. But, it wasn't perfect and they pointed out a few needed updates, so we aren't as drawn to the house as we used to be. Also, it's creek side, so the mosquitoes were insane.

We had a nice dinner with friends last night. We lost track of time, which is always a good sign. The funny thing is our friends live off of Middle to Lower Greenville (I'm not sure if it's technically in the M Streets), so when we left we had to contend with the Greenville cruisers. Wow, that was enlightening. People still do that. And we passed one new club so pretentious they didn't have a sign up. From my car in the street I could smell the cologne from the guys entering. Do girls really like smelly men like that? Seems kind of, I don't know, fake. I guess it beats B.O.

Great movie

Tonight we are going to see our friends' film they shot in a 24-hour contest.

Last night, we watched Murderball and it was fantastic. I gave it all five stars on Netflix.

Grooving

Work has been busy, but also nice. I look up and it's 4pm. I like those days.

One other thing about working from home I discovered---when things get really busy, I accidentally skip lunch. I think it's because there's no one walking up to me and saying, "What are you eating for lunch?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe leftovers."

"Leftovers? You serious, dude? What about a big, fat burger??"

"Well, I'm kind of doing something here, you know, on the work computer? Work? I am still working even though I'm home."

"You still have to eat."

"OK, well that's a good point."

"Bacon and cheese burger, man. That's all I'm saying."

"Ok, I'm driving."

No, there's no one here like that. So, I look up and it's 2pm and I grab some leftover chicken breast.

On a side note, it's time to check yourself when myspace asks "Do you really want to add Mr. Happypants as a friend?"

And you hit Add.

Dream sharing

So lately it seems everyone likes to talk about their dreams. Maybe it's because everyone's been having strong dreams. Today, I just remembered what one of my dreams was last night and I thought I'd share for discussion.

In my dream I am back in El Campo working for the newspaper there. That was my first legit job and for some reason or another, I've returned to do the job again.

Note: I have fond memories of that old job. I feel I learned more in that year than the four years of college. I had a tough, but fair boss. And the owners were very kind people. If there was one female in El Campo my age and dating (they were all married with kids or they left town), I might have stayed more than a year. Maybe. Austin was quite a draw to me back then.

OK, back to the dream. It starts out in the Monday morning meeting where we talk about the stories in the next issue. It was all the same cast as the days when I worked there.

At one point while we're talking about my assignments. "Just like last time," my editor was telling me. Obituaries, city council and police blotters, mixed with an occasional boll weavil eradication program update.

Then, I remember thinking, "Oh yeah, I'm going to need to go over to the police station and grab the police reports right after this meeting."

I look down and I'm wearing my new flip flops. I know this is against the newspaper dress code. In fact, when I worked there, one reporter was sent home for wearing Jesus sneakers to change shoes. I agreed with the call then and agreed in this dream as well. I scrambled to my desk and threw my feet far below and waited for the right time to make my exit. I was thinking, I'm five minutes from the apartment where I can put on work shoes.

Then, I woke up and rolled to a side and dreamt about things I don't remember.

Good ride

This weekend went very well. No one got hurt on the ride and everyone seemed genuinely happy and relaxed. For the Wednesday Night Bike Club, they got a vacation. For the Boneshakers, we got a good idea of what it will take to make a music bike.

Highlights:
Combat kicked it up a notch and installed lights on his music bike, a.k.a. the Baby Buick. The thing weighs close to 80 pounds and you can hear it a block away.

We rode for half an hour or so and returned to the keg at Warlord's house. There, the Baby Buick provided tunes for the rest of the night. We never floated the keg.

Old Skool generously cooked all the meals like he did last year. And, he brought up 20 liters of a homebrew, which might explain why we didn't float the keg.

And Warlord completed the Boneshaker T-shirts in time to totally piss off the WNBC (they have been a club going 6 years, and they've talked about making T-shirts going on 6 years). Well, they weren't really pissed, but I think we got them thinking as hard about shirts as they got us thinking about the music bike.

Returned indeed

If this trailer is any indication of the upcoming "Superman Returns" movie, I am SO going to own that movie. Wow. Good day for geeks everywhere.

I have watched it about 12 times and paused on some highlights and it keeps getting better. The pattern of the suit material is throwing me off a bit, but maybe I'll get used to it. The flight scenes, Kevin F*cking Spacey, and all the other elements seem to be in harmony. I even accept the upgrade of the Fortress of Solitude's control panel.

So, thanks Bryan Singer! I didn't doubt you, buddy.

Preparing

So, no more shot gun blasts in the night. Warlord got some wireless cams, but the feed was lame. We're still considering options and just moving on.

Meanwhile, we are also preparing for a very important weekend. The infamous WNBC is returning to tackle the White Rock Lake trail. The ride is officially hosted by The Dallas Boneshakers--it's nice to have more Dallas peeps to help out this year.

In fact, Warlord just reported our Boneshaker T-shirts have arrived. So, we'll take a bunch of pictures with the gang this weekend. Right now, the count is 9 riders.