Eating Like An Armadillo

I've been seeing a lot of armadillos at Village Creek Natural Historical Area. Yesterday while walking and today on my bike. They are sort of cute. Tootsie Tonasket thinks she wants to bring one home from here as a pet. Yesterday Mr. Ed picked one up and put it down on its back. The armadillo then rolled over and let out a squeaky bark noise and ran off. They can move pretty fast.

This morning I wore long pants for the first time in Texas since last winter. I went to Wal-Mart early, after swimming, even earlier.

The long pants are these Wranglers I bought up in Washington at the Shelton Wal-Mart the summer before I moved here. I thought I'd gotten the right size but when I got home I could barely get them on. They were not wearable. Then I thought I'd make these my fat pants. I knew I wanted to be skinnier so as to suffer the heat of Texas more bearably.

My goal was to be able to wear these Wrangler pants by the time I moved to Texas.

Well, that did not quite work out. Yes, by the time I moved I was able to wear them. But it was not comfortable.

Now. 10 years later, this morning, I found out that I can't wear my Wrangler Fat Pants anymore without a belt, lest I have yet one more Droopy Pants incident. And they are very comfortable. As in I could wear these on a plane.

So, this morning I found I'd lost more weight. I am in danger of dropping into the 150s. Why is this happening? It ain't like I'm trying to cause this. I think what's happened is I've been doing the early morning swimming in cold water. For quite a long swim. That must burn oodles of calories. Then later I'll go do something else physical. Obviously I'm burning up more calories than I'm eating.

Today I decided to change that. For breakfast I had 3 scrambled eggs with 6 pieces of bacon and two pieces of whole wheat bread smeared with butter. I just got done with lunch. I made homemade mac n' cheese with whole wheat noodles, a half pound of extra sharp cheese, lots of Parmesan and melted butter with onion sauteed in it. Plus deep-fried battered fish. And broccoli. And lemon-limeade made with real sugar.

I'm thinking this new program should stop or at least slow up this chronic weight loss. I tell you, it's a living hell being me.....

Taking The Trinity Rail Express Train To Dallas

This coming Friday I am going to do something eco-friendly. And new.

I'm taking the Trinity Railway Express, aka TRE, to Dallas. I need to go to a meeting in downtown Dallas. Taking the train seems like a sensible thing to do. It only cost 5 bucks. That's roundtrip. And once I'm in Dallas I can ride anything on the Dallas transit system with my TRE ticket.

The TRE runs from Fort Worth to Dallas. I'm in east Fort Worth, so my closest train station is in Richland Hills, about 2 miles north of here. Unlike anywhere in Seattle, it's free to park in the TRE parking lot.

Dallas has many many miles of light rail called Dallas Area Rapid Transit. DART for short. I've ridden DART before. It is a good thing.

I'm not quite certain how one gets from the Dallas terminus of the TRE train to downtown and if getting on DART is involved. I'm sure all will be revealed on Friday.

I have actually ridden a TRE train before. Last year the State Fair of Texas used a TRE train as one of its ways to shuttle fairgoers from remote parking lots to entry gates. It worked slick.

If I muck something up and get stuck in Dallas I've got a backup plan already worked out. It doesn't involve hitchhiking.

Sarah Palin, Katie Couric Interview & Russia

I'd been hearing comments regarding the 3 interviews Sarah Palin has given. I'd only seen a bit of one of them, that being the one with Charlie Gibson.

The Charlie Gibson bit, I saw, was the part of the interview where he asks Ms. Palin about the Bush Doctrine. She got a deer in the headlights look and stumbled for an answer.

Well, this did not bother me too much, because I could not have answered that question til a few weeks ago when I read Bob Woodward's State of Denial. I'm guessing the vast majority of Americans did not know there was something called the Bush Doctrine. It's not like there are an awful lot of us who would take any Doctrine of Bush as a serious thing.

And then this morning, I read a columnist who had gone from hoping Sarah Palin was up to the challenge to being totally sure she was in way over her head. The columnist said she'd lost count of the cringe-inducing moments and suggested Sarah Palin bow out now, before it gets worse.

I have now seen the cringe-inducing Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric. It was way way way more cringe-inducing than I thought it could be.

I think Sarah Palin is a nice lady, very smart, but, she is not ready to be president. I like the lady. I felt sorry for her watching her make a fool of herself with no awareness she was doing so. She just is not ready for this.

The debate on Thursday should likely be the end of it. Already her polls numbers are dropping.

I think there may be some sort of twisted reverse sexism going on here. If a man picked for VP had sounded this stupid there would be an uproar. Remember Dan Quayle? He never came close to this level of ineptness. Remember the grief he got? I think come Thursday night the majority of us are going to be on the this ain't right bandwagon.

Below are two videos. When I read the print version of how Sarah Palin explained that Alaska's proximity to Russia gave her foreign policy experience, I thought it was just artful editing to make her sound stupid. But no, what actually came out of Ms. Palin's mouth might be the most astonishingly dumb thing I've ever heard a politician say. And that covers a lot of ground.

The second video covers more of the interview and displays woeful ignorance in other areas. Watching Ms. Palin try to come up with examples of John McCain taking the lead on economic issues was very cringe-worthy.....

Point Defiance Park and Exiles in Texas

When I was up in Tacoma I had myself a good time hiking all over Point Defiance Park. It's one of the biggest city parks in America. I YouTubed a video I made while hiking Point Defiance. This morning a nurse with the YouTube nickname of "flatsignedbooks" made a comment about the Point Defiance video. The Texas connection is what made it interesting. Apparently both me and "flatsignedbooks" are exiles in Texas from the Pacific Northwest.

Here's the comment and below that, the video.....

Hey man! Thanks for posting this. I am in Texas and these were my stomping grounds as a kid. I sure do miss the Pac N.W!

Paul Newman & James Dean

Below is a screen test for, I think, East of Eden. James Dean won that part. East of Eden was made in 1954 and in theaters in 1955. James Dean died in a car wreck in 1955. Paul Newman would live another 54 years after the below screen test was made. In the screen test both look so young. Probably because they were young. One did not get much older, the other lived to be an old man. I think living to be an old man is preferable to a car wreck.

Bad Taste, Good Taste, No Taste

Some wise guy once said good taste is better than bad taste, but bad taste is better than no taste.

I think it's in bad taste to talk about your own taste level. As in to say something like "I have extremely good taste." What an odd thing to say. That should be for others to judge, not oneself.

I knew this guy years ago, let's call him Bussell Fatz. He was one of the dumber people I've ever known. The dumber a person is the easier it is to be self-deluded, or so it has seemed to me. Bussell Fatz would often comment on other people's level of "class." And on his own high level of "class." He'd also talk about how artistic he was. And what good taste he had.

Bussell's artisticness consisted of making hideous wall hangings out of vinyl and carpet. He had no class, no artistic ability and really bad taste. It was a funny, sad spectacle to witness.

Bussell dated another former acquaintance of mine. They made quite a pair. Both self-proclaimers of extremely good taste. And high class. I remember seeing them together once and they had 5 different versions of plaid going on between the two of them.

That girl friend of Bussell's, in addition to having extremely good taste, was probably the biggest slob I have ever known. Totally slovenly. Living like a pig in a sty. How can one have extremely good taste and live like a pig? It's a perplexing conundrum. I don't think I'll devote much mental energy to this particular conundrum.

I like that word "conundrum."

Tootsie Tonasket To Texas

Tootsie Tonasket called while I was walking at the Village Creek Natural Historical Area to inform me that she is coming to Texas and wants to go to the Texas State Fair. Tootsie asked if she can stay at my place. I didn't know what to say, so I said yeah, I guess so.

Tootsie also informed me that she wants to go to Joe T. Garcia's and have one of their legendary margaritas. I have not gone to Joe T. Garcia's in a long time. Not since they filled in the swimming pool.

Tootsie also informed me she wanted to go see that Lake Grapevine place I've written about before. I told Tootsie I really wouldn't have a lot of time to play tour guide.

Tootsie then informed me she also wanted to see the Fort Worth Stockyards and see the herd of longhorn walk down the street. And have BBQ at that Riscky's place she's seen on my Eyes on Texas website.

And how many days is it that you plan to be here I asked. 5 was the answer.

I guess I can handle 5 days of Tootsie Tonasket. But I hadn't planned on going to the State Fair of Texas this year.

My New Niece Evie

I've got a new niece named Evie.

Have I mentioned before that my little sister and little Kristin are foster parents? The first kids they took care of were named Abby and Emilie. Abby was under one year old. I forget how long they took care of Abby and Emilie, but it was a long time. And then the kids went to live with their grandparents in Colorado, where they continue to do well.

When I was up in Tacoma the Two Mommies got a call asking them if they could take a troubled boy under 10. At the time they had me in the house, my mom and dad and way too much raspberry canning going on. So, taking the boy was not doable. They already had way too much on their hands.

It amazes me that they are taking care of kids. It's a lot of work. And both my sister and Kristin already have stressful jobs.

They also run a very tidy house. And, unlike my other sister, they have no maid helping. Well, they did have me for a month. I did a lot of vaccuuming. And dish washing. To my impeccable standards.

They like a real peaceful, quiet house too, which further impresses me that they take on the responsibilty of taking care of a little kid. They have a tendency to cry and make noises.

My sister told me that Evie has gotten used to them and is happy all the time, like you see in the photo.

I forgot to mention, in addition to Evie, they also have two cute, high maintennance poodles, Blue and Max. The poodles currently have a minor medical issue involving allergies that has Max wearing one of those funny cone things around his neck. Poor Max. He's a funny poodle.

Paul Newman Killed By Lung Cancer at 83

I must be getting old. So many TV and movie stars who in my mind's eye are young, are actually old. Cloris Leachman in her early 80s. That surprised me.

And now to read that Paul Newman has died from lung cancer and that he was 83, well, both those facts surprised me.

Paul Newman was real good in several of my favorite movies. Like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He and Elizabeth Taylor were at their peak in that movie. Hud is another Paul Newman movie I've watched more than once.

I liked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when I saw it in a theater, long ago, but off the big screen and on to my TV, that movie did not entertain me on second viewing. But Paul Newman was good in it.

When I read it was lung cancer that was the cause of death I wondered if Paul Newman was a smoker. I figured not, due to him being behind all those healthy Newman's Own food products. But the photo would seem to indicate he smoked, maybe only in his younger years. Lung cancer is a nasty way to go.

I've gotta look up how old Elizabeth Taylor is...76. I've not seen her in several years.

First Presidential Debate Down, Two More To Go

I surprised myself last night. Even though I found it pretty much a boring snorefest I made it through last night's debate. The debate had none of those memorable type moments that so many previous Presidential debates have had.

Like Gerald Ford saying Eastern Europe was not under Soviet control. For those of you born post the 1970s, up til the collapse of the communism, Eastern Europe was behind what was called the Iron Curtain. Basically the countries that the Soviet Union occupied after World War II the Soviets turned into communist states. If one of the Soviet's communist "allies" got frisky, like Czechoslavakia did in 1968, the Soviets would invade and squash the rebellion.

This type thing was why it was a laugh producing gaffe when Gerald Ford made his unfortunate assertion. He really never recovered from that one incident.

The first President Bush had a memorable debate moment that hurt him when he looked at his watch, as if he was bored and anxious for the torture to end. But he was on a stage that included Clinton and Ross Perot. I really didn't think it all that odd that he'd check the time. But it bothered others.

Michael Dukakis had a bad debate moment when he coldly and robotically responded to a question regarding the death penalty and what his position on that issue would be if his wife, Kitty, were raped and murdered. That was one odd debate moment.

Al Gore had some bad debate moments when he'd do a heavy sigh in response to something coming out of George W.'s mouth. Now that almost the entire country has done similar sighing it now just seems like Al Gore was ahead of his time.

The first debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan gave most of the country their first good look at Reagan. And he surprised a lot of people. He didn't come across as some sort of hardline right winger. Instead he came across as really likable, funny, and, well, presidential. While Jimmy Carter looked and sounded really weak, at one point Reagan zinging some Carter nonsense with his famous line, "There you go again." At the time it was a great debate moment.

So, last night, to my eyes and ears there were no memorable moments. John McCain seemed toned down. No flashes of crankiness. Barack Obama seemed less long-winded than usual, with fewer moments of speaking haltingly, like he has in previous debates. Obama seemed more forceful than he has before. Very measured.

McCain rarely looked at Obama, instead directing his attention to the moderator, Jim Lehrer. It made it look like McCain was ignoring Obama.

McCain repeated himself a few times. Whether this was due to him thinking he had to hammer in a point, or he forgot he'd already said it, who knows. I'm guessing an early sign of senility. Like twice he said he has not been awarded the Miss Congeniality title while in Washington.

All in all, I guess I'd call the debate a tie.