Nothing to see here.

Maybe that will change at some point, but for now, I'm just here to be able to post comments on blogger blogs. Apparently us folks over at blogdrive aren't good enough or something. ;)

My REAL Blog is HERE.

Do you want to take my picture?

I just got an email from someone wanting to use one of my pictures they saw on flickr. Cool!

Apparently some post-doc scientist in London wants to use my moldy strawberries picture for a presentation he's doing on a system for detecting mold in fruit to prevent large batches from being contaminated.

Here's the part that really won me over: "I can't offer any money, but would certainly acknowledge your image, and you would be presented to a weird and wonderful group of scientists in the UK from all over..."

So of course I'm letting him use it. I asked for a copy of the portion of his presentation containing my picture in return.

Good game, good friends, sad news.

I got to go to another Stars game tonight, only my 2nd of the regular season, which is just sad and another story all-together. I got to see my boys beat the despicable Avs, which is always a good thing. And I got to catchup a bit and have a few drinks with Flirt & Mr. Red during and afterwards, which was a great and much-needed thing. And I got to visit briefly with some other friends, who are both going through a difficult time, which is not so much of a good thing.

It's a mix of happiness and sadness all rolled into one. I have so many thoughts about what has happened, but nothing I want to blog about right now. Just know that I am concerned and wish I'd been a better friend lately, although I know that wouldn't change anything.

It's difficult to talk generically about this, so I'll just move on.

I'm heading to Sam Rayburn later this week to spend time with my family for Thanksgiving. My oldest brother, Dilbert, from San Diego, and his family flew in and are there at his lake house so we will be celebrating the holiday there this year. Middle brother, Red Baron, will be flying so it doesn't sound like we'll get to see him or his family, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to spend time with the rest of my family. Duckie even gets to bring his daughter this year and she will get to meet her San Diego cousins for the first time!

As it stands right now, I'll be leaving Baby Girl with my parents and not getting her back until I'm in Beaumont for Christmas. I'm having major panic and concerns over that but don't want to get into that particular topic right now either. There's a slight chance that my work travel in December may be cancelled, so I'm hoping I can get confirmation on that one way or the other before I give up my dog for a month.

Oh. And you people go ahead thinking I can't keep a secret! The ones I've told are just the tip of the iceberg. Otherwise, I'm a vault, so you shut your filthy mouth!

Deep in the heart of Texas!

I finally got my information in the mail today about All-Star Game tickets! All full-season ticket holders are being given the opportunity to purchase tickets for the events. You have to buy all 3 ticketed events, consisting of:

• Day 1 - Monday, January 22 - American Airlines Salute to a Generation of Stars: an open practice featuring both Easter and Western Conference All-Stars. "This unique event will feature a celebration of recently retired NHL players who helped define the game over the past 13 years since the Stars arrived in Dallas. The event will feature a dramatic on-ice tribute and personal appearances from NHL all-time greats. Players appearing will be determined at a later date."
  
  
• Day 2 - Tuesday, January 23 - Young Stars Game and the SuperSkills Competition: "The NHL Young Stars Game features the best and brightest young talent from the Eastern and Western Conference as they face-off in this showcase game. The SuperSkills Competition pits the NHL's top players against one another in seperate skills events. Players are asked to put their individual skills on the line in contests like the Fastest Skater, Hardest Shot, Accuracy Shooting, and the Shootout."
  
  
• Day 3 - Wednesday, January 24 - 55th Annual NHL All-Star Game: "The game is a rare chance for fans to see the world's best players from the Eastern and Western Conference face-off and exhibit their exceptional talent in person. The 2007 celebration will mark the first non-weekend NHL All-Star events since Tuesday, February 7, 1989, when the 40th NHL All-Star Game was played in Edmonton. This special event will create once in a lifetime memories for Stars fans."

AND I AM GOING TO BE THERE!!!! I'll have my normal seat for Day 1. I'm being moved over a section for Days 2 and 3, but that's ok. I am so freaking excited to have the opportunity to see this here in Dallas. I've already blocked those 3 days off on my work calendar until I know what the times are, but I've got comp time and my HPA project will be done by then, so it's all good.

I signed up to volunteer to work the events as well, but so far, have not heard anything back on that. Supposedly there are some volunteer meetings coming up to learn about the different jobs they will need help with.

Either way, I'll be there. And that freaking ROCKS!!!

The Break Up

I watched The Break Up tonight. Let me first say this, it is NOT a comedy, contrary to what the previews would have you believe. I think we've all seen enough people go through this, or gone through it ourselves, to not find much pleasure in watching some fictional on-screen characters fight their way through. (I'm contradicting myself a bit here because Breaking Up, with Salma Hayek and Russell Crowe, is one of my favorite movies...for the simple fact that I so strongly identified with that couple at that point in my life)

I will say, without giving too much away for anyone who hasn't seen The Break Up but would like to, I was relieved that it didn't go for the obvious happily-ever-after ending.

A (former) friend of mine, who was great at producing little nuggets of wisdom and quotes, taught me a number of things at a time in my life when I was willing to accept them. One of which was, you teach people how to treat you. And another, a woman's heart slams shut. When we're done, we are just done and no amount of talking or flowers or romantic gestures is going to change that. Granted, it may take some of us a loooong time to reach that point, but once we do, there is no turning back.

The peculiar thing to me is why some of us (both men and women) have a tendency to stay in a relationship that has soured. There's the convenience factor, sure. And fear of being on your own again. But honestly, why should any of us settle for anything less than someone who loves and respects us as much as we do them?

After a cumulative 13 years of unhealthy, one-sided relationships, that is what I'm holding out for. Even if it means another 6 years of being single! And if it doesn't happen, at least I've learned how to be happy on my own. I may forget that at times, but it is probably one of the most valuable lessons you can learn in life.

M-I-C-K-E-Y.....

It's good to be home. Tomorrow I get my girl back, perhaps by force, but one way or the other, she's coming home with me.

The conference/vacation combo was a beating but, despite being sick and walking about a million miles, it was fun. I know there was a lot I missed seeing at Disney, but I gave it my best effort! I managed to stick around Magic Kingdom long enough Thursday night to finally see one of the fireworks shows. And the International Food & Wine Festival at Epcot on Friday was pretty cool. Expensive, but cool.

All in all, I'm glad I went. I wouldn't do it again, not by myself at least, but I'm glad I went.

I've never been a fan of Mickey, much preferring Donald or even Pluto...Perhaps it's my insane fear of rodents. But I have to say, the big-eared fella kind of grew on me.

I was like the little girl on the old Disney commercial who wanders around the whole vacation hoping to see him. And just before she leaves, she finally does. Except I only saw him on stage or a float. He was very elusive.

DisneyWorld: Animal Kingdom

Wednesday afternoon began my vacation. And I woke up with a sore throat and chest. Determined not to let that stop me, I headed off to Animal Kingdom by 11:30am. I'd found out they had the "Extra Magic Hours" that evening, so instead of closing at 6pm, they'd be open until 9.

After a frustrating experience with the FastPass line (all the machines quit working!) I ended up just standing in the regular line for the Kilimnajaro Safaris, since that would still end before 6 due to the lack of daylight. Almost an hour in line, but the safari was fun. It was quite a challenge to try and take pictures and watch for animals all while moving along on a very bouncy vehicle!

I walked through the Pangani Forest Expedition Trail and saw gorillas carrying sticks, watched hippos underwater, saw lots of birds.

Then, for some brilliant reason, I skipped Rafiki's Planet Watch, where they have more animals and a petting area. I guess I was thinking I had until 9pm for that. Not the case. So I missed that whole area completely.

I walked over to "Asia" and went through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. That was a really pretty area with lots of "ancient" ruins providing the backdrop for Komodo dragons, tigers, bats, and more.

Then I headed over to Expedition Everest. I found a single riders line and stood in it. Within 20 minutes, I was on the ride and seated next to Really Cute Guy who was wearing, of all things, a SMITHS tshirt!! He was a youngin' though. Anyway, this ride cracked me up. It wasn't a big scary coaster, but it was entertaining! The giant yeti tearing up the track and then leaping out at us was just fun.

Let's see....then I went to DinoLand and wandered around a bit before going on the DINOSAUR ride. Again, not a big scary coaster, but very fun. It was indoors and the concept was that you were taking a time rover back to the time of dinosaurs. And one of the scientists has decided to send us to right before the asteroid/meteor thing that wiped them out so we could bring one back with us. So of course, we are being bombarded by asteroid (laser) lights and such and frightened by dinosaurs, the last of which appeared out of the darkness and ROOOAAARRED at us. Loudly! Fun stuff.

By the time that was over, it was dark and the normal park hours were ending. I assumed the extra hours applied to everything, but they don't. I walked over to Camp Minnie-Mickey and it was all shut down already. This is where the Festival of the Lion King show was, so I missed seeing that, too. I found out later that apparently they did run the shows again later. Wish they'd be clearer about that stuff.

I also missed the up-close walk around the Tree of Life, which I was obsessed with. All the way around the park, I kept taking pictures of it. By the way, this was not the best time to try and learn all about my new camera. I'm seriously bummed about some of the pictures I've taken and haven't had a chance to go back and read up on some of the settings. Trial by fire and stuff.

Anyway, it was dark out and chilly and I wasn't feeling so hot by this point, so I headed to the buses to catch my ride back to the hotel.

Today I had plans to get to Magic Kingdom early, but woke up feeling like utter crap. Horrible cough, head and chest congestion, and overall just bleh-feeling. So I've been taken all my meds and trying to force myself to feel better. The tickets have already been paid for, so laying in bed is not really an option at this point.

More long days ahead

Today was the first full day of the conference. So far, the sessions I've attended have been pretty informative. And the conversations with others that are here have been good, too. It's always interesting to hear what your counterparts in other companies are doing, what challenges they've faced, what successes they've had....

It was another loooooooong day, and I keep making them longer because I can't just go to sleep when I finally get back to my room. While it's nice to meet and learn from others, my social interaction tolerance is nearing its breaking point. So I have to have my quiet time before I can go to bed and get up and do it all over again tomorrow.

Bonus: I got forwarded an email from Baby Girl tonight! Sounds like she's having a grand ol' time!