For The First Time In My Life I May Win Something

I have never been a very good game player. Except for Monopoly. Since January the Scrabble Queen of Washington, aka SQW, has beaten me at a lot of Scrabble games.

Over that period of time I've learned that taking a Scrabble break is good brain exercise. I think figuring out Scrabble words must use the same side of the brain as doing math. I am not good at math.

Over time I've found by not trying to think too hard about it and just slightly pondering it, a word will pop up, usually quite quickly.

And now, today, in one of 2 games being currently played, SQU, aka Miss Karen, has conceded, saying unless I mess up real bad I'll be winning the game you see in the picture.

I do not know how I am going to celebrate. But this is huge. If I do win this Scrabble game it will mark the first time I've ever won anything. This is a momentous, possibly life changing event.

I don't know when I've been happier.

Fort Worth Gestapo Storm Troopers Strike Again. And Again

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Deep Fried Butter & Other Big Tex Choice Award Delicacies Available At The State Fair Of Texas

The 2009 Big Tex Choice Awards 8 finalists were revealed this morning. The winners will be named on Labor Day.

You can start eating these wholesome, tasty treats when the State Fair of Texas starts up September 25. You'll have til October 18 to do some exotic food sampling.

Of the final 8 goodies, the Deep Fried Butter concoction seems, to me, the most, uh, interesting. The fryer's name is Abel Gonzales. Abel whips butter til it gets all fluffed up, then he sweetens it before wrapping it in dough. Then the dough is dropped into the boiling oil and stuck on a stick.

Butter on hot bread is tasty. So I can see where this might taste good. But, when you bite into the dough, it seems like butter is going to be squirting out. Messy.

Nick Bert figured he could improve a Texas Pecan Pie by deep frying. So, he batters up a piece of pecan pie, tosses it in the boiling oil, puts some caramel sauce on it and calls it Fried Texas Pecan Pie.

That is too much sweet for me.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very nutritious. So much so, they are known as superfoods. Milton Whitley takes the superfood, spiral cuts it, deep fries it, then sticks the sweet spud on a skewer after which he rolls it in butter, sprinkles sugar and cinnamon on top and hands you Twisted Yam on a Stick.

I like sweet potatoes and sweet potato fries. I'd eat the Twisted Yam on a Stick. Maybe.

I have had what is called a State Fair Corny Dog at the State Fair. I like corn dogs. I also like seafood. Mark Zabel has figured out a way to combine seafood with a corn dog with his Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp. The shrimp dogs are coated with spicy, sweet corn meal before hitting the fryer. Instead of mustard these dogs have a spicy glaze.

The shrimp corn dog sounds good.

I like pork. Glen Kusak thinly slices pork loin into chips, batters the chips in corn meal, then fries them before serving up his Country Fried Pork Chips with ketchup or cream gravy.

I'm thinking no on the battered fried pork.

Fernie, with no last name, has concocted Fernie's Deep Fried Peaches & Cream. Fernie coats peach slices with a batter made of coconut, graham cracker, eggs, milk, cinnamon and ginger before turning it crunchy in hot grease. Then the peaches get a raspberry sauce drizzle, with streusel on top of the drizzle and whipped cream to top it all off.

Way too much sweet for me. Although one bite might be tasty. I like peaches.

Shirley Weiss has come up with something that I could be induced to eat. Green Goblins. She stuffs hollowed out peppers with spicy chicken and guacamole before battering and the requisite frying. You get 3 peppers on a skewer topped with melted cheese.

Maybe the batter is like what's on a chile relleno, that being my favorite Mexican dish. I'd go for the Green Goblins, I think.

I like macaroons. I'm not a fan of peanut butter cups. Shirley London has combined the two with her Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon. The peanut butter cup is surrounded by the macaroon, then fried, followed by a powdered sugar dusting.

Ugh, the deep fried macaroon sounds like way too much greasy sweetness.

So, there you have it, this year's Big Tex Choice Awards finalists. Green Goblins and Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp for the win.

Me & My Shadow Stalking Litter At The Tandy Hills

I've been up since a little after 3 this morning. This type behavior always makes for an interesting day.

Right now I'm thinking about Deep Fried Butter. The Big Tex Choice Awards final eight were announced today, with the winners to be announced on Labor Day. I blogged about the Big Tex Choice Awards yesterday, saying this year's contestants had not yet been announced. And now, this morning, they have. I'll blog about this year's other bizarre fried concoctions in another blogging.

Sometime around 5 I felt like taking a dip of the skinny sort. The overnight low had the water being a bit cold for the first time in a long time.

Around 8 I started feeling constricted by interior spaces with a need to be in exterior spaces. I chose, like I often do, creature of habit that I am, to go to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area for some early morning hiking. You can tell it's early morning by the long shadow I cast in the picture. Hiking around noon there are no long shadows.

Early morning light changes the look of the Tandy Hills. I was seeing things I don't usually see. For instance, I was startled by a root that I reacted to like it was a snake. I've walked over that root many times and never thought it was a snake. But the early morning shadows gave that root rattlesnake like markings and so I jumped.

Another thing I'd not noticed before was in one of the dry creek beds. I've always seen litter in the dry creek beds, but this morning's low light and shadows revealed way more litter than I'd ever noticed before. One creek bed, that I cross every time I'm at the Tandy Hills, had a soccer ball amongst its litter collection. I'm sure it's been there for a long time, but I never saw it til this morning.

My other excitement today has been being perplexed by data that does not make sense. Short version. I use something called bit.ly to turn a long URL into a short one, suitable for Twitter. For instance, I Twittered about the State Fair of Texas, then used bit.ly to make the link back to the blog. Bit.ly provides stats. Bit.ly says that there were 24 clicks on the bit.ly link in Twitter. However, none of those clicks show up in my other stat thing called FeedJit. So, one or the other, or both, are wrong.

Like I said, it's perplexing.

Cowboy Durango Riding His Horse In Texas

A few days ago the Queen of Wink asked if there were any pictures with both me and her new Facebook friend, Big Ed, in it. I couldn't think of any. If I'm doing something picture worthy with Big Ed, it is I taking a picture, so I'm not in it.

If Big Ed and I are doing something with a group of people, that is picture worthy and someone else takes a picture, I usually do not get a copy.

I do remember a picture that had me in it, with both the Goober Twins, Big Ed and his even bigger twin, Wally. It was in Death Valley. I had a flat tire. Much drama erupted as the spare was installed by the Goober Twins. At the height of that drama a picture was taken. I was laughing, while the Goober Twins were in full Goober mode.

At the Queen's bidding I found another picture. Big Ed and me being cowboys. I was a reluctant cowboy. I do not see the attraction in sitting on one of those hot beasts. I've had incidents. The one you see me sitting on, in the picture, tried to kill me a few months later on the 4th of July.

The picture was taken by Bob Jones Park on Lake Grapevine. I don't mean the picture was taken by someone named Bob Jones Park. Bob Jones is the name of the park adjacent to Army Corps of Engineers land, which has a lot of hiking and horse trails, which is where we were riding.

What I was actually doing on these trails was riding my mountain bike, not a horse. The picture taker talked me into getting off my bike and on to her dangerous horse so she could take a picture.

The horse's name was Caution. Well-named. I should have taken it as a warning and never gotten on that beast again.

Romantic Sap At Oakland Lake Park With Ramon & Gabriella

I am such a romantic sap. I just love that type stuff. Can't get enough of it.

Today by noon I was exhausted. I needed to go somewhere really romantic to rejuvenate myself. The romantic spot closest to me is Oakland Lake Park. I always see so many birds and turtles paired up there.

Parts of Oakland Lake have turned a very unnatural, almost neon shade of green. I should have documented that color with a picture, but I didn't get the picture taking impulse.

Soon after being appalled by the neon green lake water I came upon a romantic message etched on to the sidewalk.

Apparently Gabriella hearts Ramon.

Gabriella wrote, "Always has and always will if one day there (sic) apart he'll always Be in her heart and no man will ever change that or take His place. He will always Be the one and only love of here life!!! Aug. 27, 2009"

I wonder if they are still together?

The State Fair Of Texas & The Big Boots Of Big Tex

Those are the big boots of Big Tex, standing by the Cotton Bowl at the State Fair of Texas. Big Tex is quite tall. And he talks.

The State Fair of Texas takes place at Fair Park in Dallas, running from September 25 til October 18.

I did not go to the State Fair of Texas last year. And the visit the year before was cut short due to physical ailments affecting myself and my co-fairgoer. Despite the pain, I still had fun.

Texas puts on good festivals and parades. At the State Fair of Texas you get both a good festival and a good parade.

The winners of the 20o9 Big Texas Choice Awards have not been announced, as far as I know. I could not eat any of last year's winners. The Best Taste winner was Texas Fried Cookie Dough. The Most Creative winner was Deep-Fried Latte. Then there was Fernie's Fried Chili Frito Burrito, B.W.'s Original Fried Banana Pudding, Zesty Fried Guacamole Bites, Country-Fried Peach Cobbler-on-a-Stick and Mama's Fried Sweet Potato Pie.

It all sounds real yummy.

In the YouTube video below I walk through the State Fair of Texas Midway. You'll likely see some of the food goodies mentioned above and you will hear Big Tex talk...

Canton First Mondays Trading Days & Labor Day

How can it already be September? As I get ever more aged, time seems to get ever more accelerated. Soon it will be the dreaded holiday season.

It's not too early to start in on Christmas shopping. The earlier you start the earlier it will provide a stimulus to the ailing economy.

The first Monday of September is on the 7th, which makes the 7th Labor Day.

The 4 days prior to the first Monday of any month, in Texas, are also when First Mondays Trading Days happens in Canton. That'd be September 3 through 6. I'm thinking of going to First Mondays this weekend. I've not been to Canton for a couple years. It's only about 80 miles east of my location in far east Fort Worth.

I've never seen anything like First Mondays anywhere else on the planet. It is like a flea market, crafts show, art show, antique market, home goods, food goods, all sortsa of goods store on steroids. First Mondays sprawls over a huge area. There is no way you could walk through it all in one day. There are covered arbors with cooling fans with a lot of vendors. Then there are outdoor garage sale type vendors, arranged along a maze of roads. There are permanent non-arbor structures with vendors and food purveyors.

There is no entry fee to Canton First Mondays. You do pay to park. When I was last there it cost $4 to park. There are buses to take you to and from your parking lot, but I've never parked far enough away to warrant a bus.

First Mondays can be very crowded, even though it is huge, there are a lot of people milling through.

People come from all over to go to First Mondays. This makes it a great people watching place. If all the walking makes you weary you can rent an electric cart to drive around the sprawling grounds and to haul your goods back to your vehicle.

Star Telegraph's Way With Words

Several months ago a new blog showed up in town, calling itself "Star Telegraph." I do not know who is behind the Star-Telegraph blog.

Due to how I have, at times, made a little fun of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I have been asked, a time or two, if the Star Telegraph is my blog. It definitely is not. But I wish I'd thought of that name.

Whoever it is who writes the Star Telegraph, he or she or they, have really good taste and a highly discerning eye for clear, high-quality thinking and writing.

Just this past Friday was the following blog post in the Star Telegraph...

A way with words

As usual, we enjoyed Durango's honest opinion about the Trinity River Vision Boondoogle. You will enjoy it, along with the interesting picture.

Read all about it on Durango's blog.

This was not the first time the Star Telegraph showed such good taste in singling out something in this blog. I can't remember when or what, right now, but thought I'd mention the latest.

Why Bother Looking For A Tandy Hills Tarantula?

Some mornings when it is time to get up I think to myself, why bother? Today was one of those mornings. But, I got up anyway.

About 6 I had my regular impulse to go swimming before the sun came up, but that why bother impulse struck, so I didn't bother going swimming.

After I didn't bother going swimming I got an email desperately seeking my help fixing an Internet related problem. My first impulse was to think why bother, but I overcame the impulse and fixed the problem.

After fixing the Internet related problem I thought of blogging, but I had nothing motivating me to blog about, that and I thought why do I bother with this blogging thing? Really? What is the point? Why bother? Even though I felt like not bothering, I bothered anyway and blogged. About what, I do not remember. That was this morning, it is now afternoon. How can I be expected to remember what I did this morning? I suppose I could look, but why bother?

Around noon I was really feeling tired of this hell I'm living. But I really did not feel like going to the bother of going to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Fortress of Solitude Area to get in my usual mood-lifting, endorphin producing, fast hiking up and down hills.

I sort of thought to myself why do I want to bother feeling better by forcing some endorphins into my bloodstream? Against my negative nature I forced myself to go to the Sanatorium.

After a mile or two of hiking I saw the wildflower you see at the top. It looked unusual to me. By then I started to feel a bit less bothered by the feeling that I didn't want to bother.

I learned yesterday that the last time Martha and Big Ed went hiking on the Tandy Hills they saw a tarantula. I have only seen one of those bugs once since I've been in Texas. It was on a trail in Cedar Hills State Park. Cedar Hills State Park is by Lake Joe Pool near the southwest side of Dallas.

Along side the paved biking/hiking/blading trail, in Arlington's River Legacy Park, there are signs telling you what wildlife to look out for. One of the signs tells you you can find tarantulas in the park. I've seen all the park's wildlife, depicted on the various signs, except for a tarantula.

That's all I feel like bothering to blog about right now.