Downwind of Up-Dog

Permanent Ink Update

2010-11-17T19:58:00.001-06:00

Doug = 2 sessions Gina = 5 sessions and counting Doug's final product. By artist: Mike Tidwell @ Hold Fast Session No. 2 Session No. 3 Session No. 4 Session No. 5 Probably have two more sessions to go to finish the leaves that will stretch from left shoulder to right flank. [Not sure why it's not letting me turn these photos to their landscape position... I tried everything. Any

Greenville, TX

2010-11-17T18:53:00.000-06:00

So... Hello there. Hi. How you been? Good. It's been a while, eh? It has. Whatcha been up to? Oh, I don't know. A little of this. A little of that. Let's catch up... The first weekend of November, Donna, Ruckus and I drove out to Greenville, TX to visit Grandma Jo at Sister Debbie and Daniel's place. Here are some highlights of the doggie playtime out at the pond. [Dialog from the video]

Walk-the-Dog Friday

2010-08-27T10:36:00.000-05:00

This week in photos from my walks with Ruckus. Finally, it rained! And the temperature dropped below 100 degrees Fahrenheit once again. One day of rain and sunflowers popped up everywhere. Enjoying the cool mornings and the one-week break between Summer and Fall classes, Ruckus and I got in some extra miles. A sign of the times. Home is over that horizon. Is this milk thistle? Does

Erythritol: Er-ee-thrit-all

2010-08-25T11:32:00.000-05:00

I watched this yesterday. I usually don't get wound up enough to click the "forward" button on things like this, but I'm still thinking about the video today. Even if I didn't buy into the Rockefeller family conspiracy theory, I found myself Googling those un-pronounceable items on the ingredient list. It doesn't hurt to be informed.

Walk-the-Dog Friday

2010-08-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

Every Friday I will post the best of the photos taken during the week on walks with my dog. Ruckus and I hit the trail nearly everyday, walking a few different paths around our apartment near the shores of Lake Worth. We encounter a host of wildlife - living and roadkill, plant life, evidence of human life - mostly in the refuse left behind and each week I tell the tale in pictures. Enjoy.

Permanent Ink

2010-08-17T17:11:00.005-05:00

Practical use #34 for Garudasana (Eagle pose): Spreading lotion on your own back. Sorry Mom, if you're reading this, that I didn't warn before posting these photos. Would you love me as much is I were perfectly predictable? So, this is the beginning to a huge piece of art that will be on my person forever, and of which I cannot see without the aide of a mirror. I still have

I'm a Maniac Maniac

2010-08-14T09:49:00.003-05:00

That, is a really blurry picture of me arc welding. The fuzziness actually makes it more accurate if you imagine it as sweat running into your eyes. It's over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Texas and my welding class is in a big metal building with no A/C. Add long pants, long-sleeve shirts, leather boots and gloves, one of those welding hoods plus 10,000 BTU's of heat and you've got a real swampy

Walk-the-Dog Friday

2010-08-13T13:22:00.003-05:00

Every Friday I will post the best of the photos taken during the week on walks with my dog. Ruckus and I hit the trail nearly everyday, walking a few different 3-mile paths around our apartment near the shores of Lake Worth. We encounter a host of wildlife - living and roadkill, plant life, evidence of human life - mostly in the refuse left behind and each week I tell the tale in pictures.

Walk-the-Dog Friday

2010-08-06T09:29:00.004-05:00

Presenting the adventures of G4 and Mr. Ruckus!Every Friday I will post the best of the photos taken during the week on walks with my dog. Ruckus and I hit the trail nearly everyday, walking a few different 3-mile paths around our apartment near the shores of Lake Worth. We encounter a host of wildlife - living and roadkill, plant life, evidence of human life - mostly in the refuse left behind

The Z: My First

2010-07-27T08:50:00.005-05:00

Everyone remembers their first car. Maybe not the one with which they learned to drive, but the first one that they picked out and paid for. Mine was a forest green Ford Ranger pick-up; 2-door, 4-cylinder. I will forever kick myself for not buying the powder blue 1978 Mercedes sitting right next to it, but at the time I was determined to be a responsible grown-up, ergo, I bought the Ford.Later, I

Vehiculus is Displeased

2010-04-21T22:08:00.003-05:00

There is a god of motor vehicles. His name is Vehiculus and I have angered him. Perhaps I provoked his wrath with my boasting about the Mechanic Olympics. Maybe he takes issue with the glory of Olympia being coupled in name with such a peasant occupation. Or maybe Oglia, The goddess of Cosmetology Schools and third wife of Vehiculus, banished him to the couch for tire tracking her new faux-marble

Mechanic Olympics

2010-04-09T13:46:00.004-05:00

Almost one full year has past since I left Kuwait, embarking on a quest to become an aircraft mechanic. Some said I'd lost my damn mind. Some called me their hero. Most probably wondered if I'd actually do through with it and I count myself in that third group. If you know me at all, you know that I've had a great many "career paths" in my relatively short number of years as an adult. If you've

From Um to Om to Ohms

2009-10-20T15:53:00.007-05:00

Hello party people. It's been a few minutes longer than a really long time since I added any stories to this blog. I do apologize. So much has happened since May 2009. I didn't write because I didn't know where to start. But, as the great Master Yoda says: "Do or don't. There is no try." So, I start at the present and I'll add a montage of back-story as we carry on in the current happenings. So,

One-way Trip to Angelo... And Back.

2009-05-19T21:41:00.010-05:00

My car is my home; the road is my companion. Until that blown tire. Now my car feels like a dead-weight mortgage and the tow truck driver my new bestie.When I could not find the spare tire anywhere in, on, or under the car I called our insurance company and asked them to send a tow truck. An hour later, Michael - my new best friend - arrived, picked up the Z and I, and drove us to the nearest

I am; Spirited Away

2009-05-09T20:12:00.012-05:00

It's been raining. I haven't seen cumulus clouds since our trip to Jordan in October. As a passenger of Braxton's Buick Rendezvous on the drive from Dallas to San Angelo, Texas I can watch the patches of clouds and light. Boring Texas has never been so beautiful. Reality truly is the current perspective.I remember my first drive to San Angelo, June 30th, 1997. Compared to the rain forest-like

It's Complicated

2009-05-09T19:40:00.003-05:00

The first question asked and easiest questions to answer started as a bump in the road and have escalated to a tire-sized pot-hole on Converstion Street. "So, where do you live?" "Uhhhh... I'm sort of between domiciles at the moment." "Really. So, what do you do?" "You mean as a job? Well... I don't really have one of those either. No, no... Both are by choice. The Big Bad Economy has claimed me

Inside My Room

2009-04-05T07:30:00.012-05:00

This is my room. This is where I've been hiding out for the past two years. Before this I hid in a different room (not pictured). Now that it is time to pack it up I realize just how much I'm going to miss it. I'll make a new hiding spot. Sure. But this one was special. While living here I discovered Neil Gaiman novels and ordained him my new favorite author.While living here I conquered the

What Time?

2009-03-25T06:43:00.004-05:00

When it comes to planning there are two kinds of people: The "What-timers" and the "Wheneverists." At some point I migrated from the former to the latter group. This realization came when I analyzed my annoyance with the repetition of the question, "What time?" Most often, my answer is simply, "I don't know yet," or maybe a guess, "...around this time-ish." Most of the time I'm good with that. I

Screwtape Bird's Nest

2009-03-17T13:40:00.004-05:00

It’s spring in Kuwait. Well, according to the calendar, it’s spring everywhere, but it’s been spring in Kuwait for a while – despite the occasional emails from home with news of the latest snowstorm.The birds and bees in Kuwait are ignorant of snow falling on other continents. How could such knowledge possibly affect them, and, really, should they care? The birds of Kuwait are busy doing what

3 Hours in Istanbul

2009-03-16T10:07:00.011-05:00

I've got three hours. Tell me your life story. How well could you know a person in three hours? I can usually tell if I'm going to like a person in about three minutes, but I still learn new things about my husband after ten years of marriage. For better or worse, in the rain and after an exhausting girl-trip to Europe, I had a three hour window into Istanbul, Turkey and I took the chance.Not one

Does This Tailor Make My Ass Look Big?

2009-01-28T04:33:00.008-06:00

"Too much beeg heer," said the tailor, making parenthesis-like motions around my hips. "Very smoll heer." He added, gesturing to my waist. He tsk-tsked and tugged on the hem at the back of the dress."Too much beeg. Make too much problems for me." This was round-two of verbal abuse and adjustments to a simple, satin, red, strapless dress I'd hired Abdulhaq, the tailor, to make.My friend Mai

Umm...Excuse me, Kuwait? I Think You're Doing it Wrong

2009-01-21T06:14:00.019-06:00

I struggled to come up with an interesting commentary on this post. I uploaded the photos about 5 days ago and each day I started to write a snidely clever something about them and each day I saved it as a draft and gave up. Maybe I should change the post title to: "Umm... Excuse me, G4? I Think You've Lived in Kuwait Too Long." If you're wondering what exactly you're looking at, yes, that's a

The Sacrifice: My effort to play with others

2009-01-15T04:54:00.004-06:00

I watched the Sex in the City movie last night with two friends as the feature our first ever Girl’s Night. It was about 90 minutes too long. The movie is actually a whole 120 minutes of girlfriend torture, so I entertained myself by looking for inconsistencies in the plot and counting the veins in Sarah Jessica Parker’s man-hands.Next time, I’ll bring the movie – does Frank Miller’s The Spirit

Search for a Yoga Teacher… fil Koowayt: Joshy P. Joseph

2009-01-06T04:13:00.011-06:00

All teachers need a teacher and all teachers need to be students of someone or something. It’s the only way we stay fresh. Someone once said that you must “return to the well” or your knowledge will run dry. That makes sense. And being humbled by our ignorance can only make us more compassionate to the struggles of our students. I stopped teaching because I am without a “well” and my bucket done

You're Pulling My Finger...

2008-12-30T06:53:00.008-06:00

Poking at the definition of art“So, those are pictures of your fingers?” I put on my practiced “impressed face” and nodded enthusiastically.“And all the photos were taken with my mobile phone.” The artist added with equal enthusiasm. He went on to explain how inspiration struck one afternoon while painting the interior of his house. Playing around with different concrete stains, architect Bassem

Kitten-Shirt-Guy, You're Up

2008-12-23T07:23:00.007-06:00

It’s about time I talk about Kitten-Shirt-Guy. He and I have never actually met, but we see each other most mornings in the weight room of the gym at the Holiday Inn. I’ve not met him on purpose. I like my name for him and I don’t want to feel obligated to call him by his real name, if only in my head and to those lucky enough to hear my tattles of his exploits.Kitten-Shirt wears sunglasses. All

Fun Like White People

2008-11-13T04:20:00.009-06:00

“Hello Jordan, you were always my favorite New Kid,"said my derisive husband as we turned off the highway, heading from Queen Alia Airport to our first hostel destination in Madaba, Jordan. I punched the #1 button on our rental car’s preset radio stations and Fergie’s voice came crashing through the airwaves, “When I’m in Jordan I listen to 97.1, Jordan’s No. 1 hit Radio station!” No way, Fergie

Baining Madam?

2008-10-01T00:00:00.011-05:00