Sarah Palin's Daughter Bristol's Baby's Baby Daddy Follows Me

Yesterday I blogged about the Flying Saucer Balloon Boy. And then blogged about it again when I learned, from Levi Johnston, that the Balloon Boy had been found, safe and sound.


In the blogging, where I said that in this bizarre new world we live in, consisting of news coming at you from all sorts of odd locations, I said that Levi Johnston had become a news source for me due to the fact that it was from a Levi twittering tweet that I learned the Balloon Boy had been found.

In the course of the blogging about Levi Johnston I took a little poetic license and said he was one of my legion of Twitter followers. Which wasn't true.

But it is now true. This morning I got an email from Twitter telling me about a new Follower. The email informed me that "Durango Jones, Levi Johnston is now following your tweets on Twitter."

So, now I can honestly say that Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol's baby's Baby Daddy, Levi, is now ardently following my every single tweet on Twittering. I'm taking poetic license again.

Levi may not be following me for long. He keeps saying he is going to delete his Twitter account due to getting tired of too much flack from the pro-Palin right wing nutjobs. I'd get tired of it too, if I were Levi. Which I'm not. I find it amusing to read.

Oprah Winfrey Comes To The Texas State Fair With Her Cowboy Hat

I really do not see all that many people wearing cowboy hats here in Texas. But, I know places I can go here and know for sure I'll see a cowboy hat. Or two.

Like the Fort Worth Stockyards. You are guaranteed of seeing cowboy hats being worn there. You'll even find more than one place where you can buy yourself a cowboy hat.

You'll also see a lot of cowboy hats if you go to the Fort Worth Stock Show. The Stock Show takes place in winter, I think in late January. It's Fort Worth's version of a state fair. It's a really big deal with one of the best parades I've ever seen, it being the world's biggest non-motorized parade.

It seems to me that a lot of visitors to Texas put on a cowboy hat, sort of as if that makes them fit in with the Texans. When my mom and dad were here last January, they wore their cowboy hats pretty much every time a picture of them was taken.

On Monday, that being Columbus Day, October 12, Oprah Winfrey was in Dallas to tape her show at the State Fair of Texas at the Chevrolet Main Stage. A lot of people turned out. I don't know if any of them wore cowboy hats. But Oprah did.

Sitting In Texas & Thinking About Hiking Around Mount Baker & Losing My Clothes At Baker Hot Springs

I read the online version of my old hometown local newspaper every morning. It's called the Skagit Valley Herald. For reasons unknown to me the online version is called Go Skagit. There used to be an online version that looked exactly like the printed version. Maybe that still exists and I lost track of it.

Anyway, Go Skagit has a Hike of the Week feature. These tend to make me a bit homesick. This week's is about the Dock Butte Trail and the fact that snow is beginning to close the trails in the high country.

That is Dock Butte in the foreground of the picture, with Mount Baker hovering over it. Mount Baker is a volcano. One of 5 in Washington's Cascade Mountains. When Mount St. Helens started going into erupt mode Mount Baker also started acting up, so much so that access was closed to some areas of the Mount Baker National Forest. I remember you could not go to Baker Hots Springs til Mount Baker calmed down.

Baker Hot Springs is, or was, a clothing optional little oasis reached after a hike through an old growth forest of Douglas Fir trees. During the Reagan years someone prudish was put in charge of Mount Baker National Forest. In an effort to stop the fun at Baker Hot Springs the wooden box that turned the burbling spring into a pool was destroyed.

Soon a makeshift pool was made using rocks to hold in the hot water. But that did not work too well. I suspect by now Baker Hot Springs has been returned to its former glory, likely restored during the more libertine Clinton years. That man came from Hot Springs, after all.

Levi Johnston Told Me The Helium Balloon Boy Is Home Alone Alive

Twitter keeps on being the gift that keeps on giving. A hour or so ago I blogged about the flying saucer helium balloon that kept the world's attention for awhile this afternoon due to the erroneous belief a 6 year old Colorado boy was inside.

So, I blogged about the bizarre, yet strangely compelling incident. An hour later I'm at Twitter, doing some Twittering when I see that one of my Followers, Levi Johnston, he being the baby daddy to Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol's baby, had twittered.

Levi had taken time out from preparing for his latest Playgirl magazine photo shoot to twitter or tweet, "Balloon Boy found alive, was never inside balloon HOAX: BALLOON BOY FOUND ALIVE IN GARAGE."

So, it was all a big brouhaha over nothing. Well, there was that UFO looking object zooming across the sky that got a lot of people really busy.

What a world we live in. I've only known of Sarah Palin for a bit more than a year. And now her former future son-in-law has become one of my news sources, via this ridiculous, yet useful, thing called Twitter.

Town Talk Talk & Fosdic Lake This Cold Texas Fall Day

I have not made it to any of my usual places I make it to lately. I guess it's weather related. Today started off windy and foggy and then got colder.

I went to walk around Fosdic Lake today at Oakland Lake Park. My new best friend, Martha, mentioned Oakland Park to me yesterday and the fact that though she's a longtime native girl, with mom and dad in the neighborhood, she did not know of Fosdic Lake.

Martha is currently exiled in Vancouver, B.C. That's up in Canada. Martha is going to finally see Fosdic Lake when she comes to her old hometown this Christmas. Martha, if you are reading this, be sure and bring some bird food for the ducks. They can be quite demanding.

Speaking of the Northwest. After Fosdic Lake I went to Town Talk. That's the grocery store I've mentioned before where I find all sorts of good stuff real cheap. I'm all about cheap. Fort Worth Weekly had Town Talk in its Best of 2009 issue, informing its readers about the gourmet type stuff you can find there at cut-rate prices.

So, I was checking out at Town Talk. The checkout lady asked me if it had gotten colder. I said yes it had. And added that the weather here lately has been reminding me of the Pacific Northwest in winter. A lady behind me, a mom with her daughter, asked me where I was from in the Northwest. I told her. She then made some remark about Fort Worth and Texas being the opposite of where I was from.

I said, yeah, that is pretty true. I asked if she'd been up there. She said no, but her daughter had and wants to move to Olympia. I agreed Olympia was nice and mentioned the cool farmers market there. The daughter had been to it. The mom then asked if it is true that there are flowers everywhere. Yes, it's true, I said. I told her when I'm away for awhile and return in summer, it takes me awhile to get over thinking everywhere smells like Christmas trees. And all the color is real noticeable. And the free blackberries just waiting to be picked.

The mom said something like you're making me want to move there too. I then said, remember what started this conversation. As in, winter up in Washington is like this fall is being in Texas. Wet, gray, foggy, damp and cold.

Anyway, that was the Town Talk talk as near as I can remember it.

6 Year Old Boy Trapped Inside Soaring Flying Saucer Balloon Disappears

I turned on the news while I ate lunch. President Obama was holding yet one more Town Hall meeting in which he seems to come off, to me, as being in campaign mode, rather than president mode.

And then "BREAKING NEWS" flashed on the screen. And then an image of a flying saucer came into view. Soon I was to learn a 6 year old boy was in the flying saucer, which actually was some sort of homemade weather balloon filled with helium.

The flying saucer weather balloon looked to be flying really fast, but in reality, as near as one can trust what one hears on these "live" type events, it was flying about 25 mph. It had reached an altitude of around 8,000 feet and then began slowly descending.

There was some speculation that the little boy had untethered the balloon and ran away and hid when he realized what he'd done.

The flying saucer soared across Colorado, starting by Fort Collins, then heading east before veering back towards Denver.

You could see the flying saucer was deflating. There was much discussion about whether or not it was, but you could clearly see it was quickly losing its stuffing. Then we were told it was down to 1000 feet. Then speculation about power lines and trees.

Then it was down to a few hundred feet. We saw a caravan of rescue vehicles closing in. We were told Blackhawk helicopters were on their way. We saw the flying saucer get very close to the ground. Then we were told we were going to break away in case something really bad happened.

But, we stayed, live, except, I assume, for a very slight delay. We saw the flying saucer touch down, rather gently. Instantly men were on it, securing it to the ground. There seemed to be no rush to get the little boy. Then it became obvious there was no little boy inside. Because no little boy came out and no medics rushed in.

Now the speculation is that the little boy was in a little box that was attached under the flying saucer. And so now the search is on for the little box. And the little boy.

Most bizarre thing I have watched "LIVE" in quite a while.

Another Foggy, Drizzling, Gray Fort Worth Thursday

That is the 9am morning view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony. Another gray, foggy day in Fort Worth, Texas.

I went swimming in a fog this morning. That was enjoyable. We neared 90, yesterday, temperature-wise, so the water had warmed considerably.

Way too often the simplest of things can befuddle me. Last night it was figuring out how to get Miss Puerto Rico's TV to work. Eventually I gave up and watched The New Adventures of Old Christine through a lot of snow, while I ate a bunch of chicken wings.

By this morning I looked at the TV controller again and realized I had to hit the VCR/TV switch to make it work. It has been a couple years since I quit using a VCR to control my TV, so I'd totally forgotten about a VCR/TV switch on a remote control. I partly attribute my semi-senility to having been up since 3am and being a bit tired.

I got a couple amusing comments to a blogging yesterday about Vancouver being the Fort Worth of the North. Steve A. pointed out to me that Vancouver is in the Southwest, unless you are an Imperialist American. Steve also pointed out to me that Victoria is the Fort Worth of Southwest Canada, which makes Vancouver the Dallas of the Canadian Southwest.

Yesterday was a good day. We'll have to wait and see how today goes.

Vancouver, British Columbia, The Fort Worth Of The North

This day just keeps getting better. I just got an email from a transplanted Fort Worth native now living in Vancouver, B.C. named Martha. Martha is an obviously very astute, articulate former Texan.

I think I've made mention, before, of Fort Worth's strange plan to build a little lake and some canals, called the Trinity River Vision. When this vision first came into view it was touted as a project that would turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South.

The Vancouver of the South ridiculous propaganda was quickly dropped. I suppose because there were way too many people who had actually been to Vancouver, who knew there was not enough money on the planet to turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. You'd need large bodies of saltwater and towering mountains to turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. An impossible dream that has been scaled way back, with a price tag approaching 1 $billion.

You can build a new Dallas Cowboy stadium for that type of money.

That is an aerial view of Vancouver in the picture. If you really strain your imagination there is still no way you are going to be able to stretch if far enough to imagine Fort Worth looking like that.

And now the email from Martha with her last name removed...

Dear Sir:

My name is Martha, and I just came across your blog for the first time today. I was searching for 'things to do' in Fort Worth (over the Christmas holidays when everyone's in town), and found that there's a park with a lake I'd never heard of very near my parents' house. And since Oakland Park/Fosdic Lake has been the subject of many of your posts... ta-da! Google directed me to Durango Texas.

Mostly, this email is to let you know that I enjoyed reading your blog. FW was my childhood home, and I'd never lived more than 30 miles away from it until I went to Vancouver, BC, for graduate school a few years ago. Now, I know *you're* not happy living in North Texas, and I know that there are plenty of things to be unhappy *about* when living in North Texas, but when I was living in Vancouver, I found it quite impossible to describe what it was I loved or missed about my home-- particularly to Pacific NW natives who couldn't understand how the prairie was beautiful-- and your blog reminds me of the good and the bad and all the pain of displacement in a way that I find compelling and strangely heart-warming. All that to say, I felt just as damned living in BC as you do living in TX, and since we've both lived in both places... I feel a special bond. I hear/read what you're saying and I know what/where you're talking about and I feel more myself for it, so thank you.

Love,
Martha

Martha, just so you know, I know I may be a bit critical of things here in Fort Worth. And Texas. But, for the most part, I like it. But not nearly as much as I like Vancouver. That's one of my favorite towns. Always has been. It's only drawback is way too many Canadians live there.

Kieran The Scotsman Takes A Leap On The Grand Canyon Skywalk

Our modern world, with its constant state of instant inter-connectedness, is a wonder to behold.

A couple weeks ago I heard, via Twitter, from a pale Scotsman named Kieran McCrorie. I have so many incoming confusions I don't remember what it was Kieran tweeted at me. I know it somehow had something to do with his Quiver invention. That being a hiker's/biker's water bottle that somehow stays cool and is manufactured in Santa Barbara, California.

I learned about Santa Barbara being where Quiver is made after Kieran tweeted a question along the lines of wondering what there was to do in Santa Barbara. I think I suggested taking a day trip to Hollywood and Disneyland. I was assuming Kieran had not been to this part of America before.

I was wrong. Kieran tweeted to my tweet, I don't know if this is a re-tweet, or goes by some other tweet name, but Kieran told me that he'd been to the Los Angeles things to do, had run Las Vegas ragged. And had gone to the Grand Canyon. Spending a small fortune in the process.

What Kieran did not tell me was that he'd been on the Grand Canyon Skywalk, that being a new attraction built by the Hualapai Indian tribe. You walk out on a horseshoe shaped piece of glass, cantilevered out over the Grand Canyon, with about 4,000 feet of air between you, the glass and the canyon floor.

So, this morning, for purely selfish reasons, I twittered or tweeted, yet again, about the Grand Canyon Skywalk. With a link to my blogging about that subject.

Kieran read that tweet, which said "The Hualapai Indian tribe's Grand Canyon Skywalk loses favor with me due to not allowing visitor's cameras: http://bit.ly/CobTs."

(Note the little bit.ly link above. That is something you use with Twitter. Bit.ly shrinks down long URLs so that they don't use up too many of your allotted 140 Twitter characters)

Kieran then tweeted or re-tweeted, back at me, with a photo of himself, saying, "Far too expensive, but I wouldn't have caught this with my camera. Totally agree on skywalk. Everything seemed to cost, including the photos - but it ended up being worth it."

Kieran is referencing the photo of himself on the Grand Canyon Skywalk in the photo above, which happens to be, in my opinion, the best picture I have seen yet of that particular attraction.

Anyone reading this in Santa Barbara, Kieran will soon be in your zone and in need of entertainment.

Fort Worth's Corrupt Mayor Mike Moncrief's Re-Election Is A Sign Of The Apocalypse

I do not know how I missed this gem in Fort Worth Weekly's Best of 2009 issue about Fort Worth's notoriously corrupt mayor, Mike Moncrief.

I previously noticed and blogged about another Best of 2009 mention of Fort Worth's un-esteemed mayor, that being him being Fort Worth Weekly's pick as "The Politician Most Likely to Sell Grandma to the Highest Bidder."

But, I somehow missed the other Mayor Mike Moncrief Best of 2009 mention. That being "Sign of the Apocalypse."

The Reader's Choice was the Tarrant County College downtown campus boondoggle.

The Critic's Choice for "Sign of the Apocalypse" was Mayor Mike Moncrief's landslide re-election.

About that particular election travesty, where only 6% of Fort Worth's registered voters voted and gave the insufferably corrupt mayor a landslide 70% victory, FW Weekly Critics said...

"Fort Worth voters elected this former senator as mayor in 2003. Since then, millions of dollars have gone unaccounted for at city hall but nobody got fired, the budget is in turmoil. Moncrief's gas drilling buddies are degrading the city's quality of life, and the mayor likes to bully and badger people who try to speak out at city council meetings. The apocalypse might almost be an improvement."