The crow flies at dawn

That's an in-joke with my family: My dad called me while I was at college and told me "The academy awards are on tonight" and Jolene, my sorority sister thought it might've been code for something! Like: The crow flies at dawn... that is all...

I love getting calls from my dad every year, letting me know the academy awards are on tonight. And this year, I must say, I don't have that "What-the-bleep" feeling I've had in years past where I felt a really deserving film was totally blown off.

But this year I really liked the Departed. I alone of my friends went and saw the Queen and thought it was deserving. And of course I loved Little Miss Sunshine, too. And I walked out of the theater of the Last King of Scotland thinking no one would pop off the screen like Forrest Whitaker.

I did like Pans Labyrinth, but I told people that while it was good, it wasn't ground breaking. Terry Gilliam had been doing the same in the 80's with films like Brazil and the Adventures of Baron Munchousen (sp?!). Though I really like the director, and it was a really well made movie... I've just been watching films like that longer than the average American movie-goer.

Well, I'm off to bed, but wanted to record my Academy thoughts.

I loved the Tom Hanks response to that crap announcer backstage! Mike wouldn't let me DVR rewind it, but I nearly fell out of my chair!

Night!

Houston Photo Mix

Well, the tally is in and we're declaring it a 60/40 good trip vs fiasco, but we squeaked away with a fun trip.

For your consideration:

Good:

10% Getting out of Austin!! A really much needed breakup in the monotony.
20% Seeing our friend Chaz again from Boston.
30% Finding out about Petshotel, a doggie day care that's really affordable and has lots of neato perks for the dog, like individual playtime and nice roomy rooms instead of cages.
40% We found an awesome breakfast place called Empire Cafe that let us bring Enzo. We went there twice.
50% The Derek Hotel was amazing, a 4 star hotel that let us have Enzo.
60% Enzo being with us was great, too.

Bad:

10% Chaz's apartment building had a fire the night before we saw him, and his apartment was on the bottom level where all the water probably went. Though, Chaz's composure was great, much better than mine would be
20% The weather Sat morning was craptastic. We did a lot of driving in the rain with the dog wondering what the heck we could do before we discovered Petshotel.
30% Mike lost his expensive sunglasses at the zoo in what we've reconstructed took 45 seconds for some lowlife to see and grab them before Mike realized they were not in his pocket.
40% In an attempt to end the night cozily, Mike bought some bottles of beer and we watched Stranger than Fiction in bed at the hotel. He sat down on the bed as I was taking a sip and bumped me, chipping my front tooth. (It's not really noticeable, you have to really stare awhile to see it, and now it's worn smooth again).

I hope the percentages are better on our next Houston trip! It's so not that far, Mike and I want to go back and even out the odds!

The Perfect Angel

New Characters in Camp Lizard

New Characters in Camp Lizard

Heeeere's Eddie!

I'm excited because Eddie will be a fun addition to the lineup at Camp Lizard. Leon's the "hero" the average kid. Oz is a bit of a easy going daredevil type, prone to losing his head in the thrill of adventure. Eddie will be a bit more neurotic. He'll be the reactor of the group. Hulio will be the silent strong type, with deep reserves of wisdom.

It's nice to have the four finally together!

When to not use windshield wiper fluid

...WHEN IT'S 25 DEGREES AND YOU'RE CAR'S NOT WARMED UP!!!

Yes, after gassing up this morning before work, I got back on the road and thought, "Hmmm... the light's hitting my dirty windshield making it not ideal to look through (I sound very logical inside my own head), I will use my wiper fluid to clear off the dust and thereby make my viewing of the road and other drivers even better."

Well, what happened is that my wiper fluid froze INSTANTLY to my windshield turning my morning comute into a 65 mph deathtrap. I couldn't see anything, it was like I had cataracts. And I was on a highway that was under construction, so there were no stripes on the road, not that I could see them. I think I relied more on my inner ear and side mirrors than my windshield while I frantically started trying to defrost the windshield. I got a "hole" about the size of a quarter (that's being generous), and I was used that to get over to the right lane and try to slow down and pull over,

BUT GUESS WHAT?!

No shoulder!! Thank you Texas Highway Commission! Since they were repaving, there was no shoulder to pull off onto, so I drove an alarmingly long way with a small clear spot to see through. I had to relearn how to breathe and wonder at my stupidity.

I hope my guardian angel got time and a half!

Happy Valentines Day!

Frill Out!

Don't you hate it when you can't get your frill down? I'm having some fun with Oz, the frilled dragon. When he get's excited or nervous his frill becomes a little hard to control. He'll pick up the nickname "Umbrella Head" from the frogs later on for obvious reasons :)

Superpup

A great pic of Enzo (I've stopped taking good ones in the last 2 years... mental note: have I become nosferatu? hmmm). We had a fun superbowl party, even Enzo had canine guests.

Swamped

(click on to enlarge) I don't know if I'll ever get that boggy smell out of my studio!