Russell & Kimmy

Life is always teaching lessons. Sometimes we learn and sometimes we don’t; still there is a lesson. Everyday I try to be cognizant of these lessons, like I am cognizant of my foot hurting after dropping rocks from a great height upon it, and learn three new things. Sometimes they are immaterial, sometimes profound. This weekend I learned that alternators burn, and that they usually start burning at a really inconvenient time. So here was my Saturday night, a hay ride, a burning alternator and being stuck on top of some random hill deep in the hill country. I enjoyed it, the stars were beautiful and the sky was clear. Kimmy on the other hand didn’t appreciate the fresh, crisp, cold air as much as I did.

Fresh air is nice but makes me tired. Which is a little annoying since I have a lot lined up for the week. I need to start planning for grad school. Need to find financial aid. More importantly I need to go and throw my vote away. The election would be more fun if we didn’t have such craptacular gubernatorial canidates. Maybe in two years it will be better or maybe in two years I will have little green monkeys teach me the meaning of life and awsome kung fu; both probably but highly unlikely.

Well I just got done eating dinner. My sweetie, aka Kimmy, made me some soup. And even though she is fighting off some horrid sinus/allergy thing she had it done and waiting for me when I got home. It was pretty tasty, it was full of love, but most of all it was food. I was very hungry.

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 cans of minestrone soup
• 2 14 ounce cans stewed tomatoes (undrained)
• 2 15 ounce cans mixed vegetables (also undrained)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable juice
• spices and other hot stuff she feels like putting in.

• Cook the meat, drain the fat. Throw everything into a pot and let it cook.

I also got done with my GRE. My mother, my sweetie, and just about everyone else that I know will be happy that I got it done. I was a little unhappy because the scores were okay but not stellar (600 verbal, 620 quantitative). They should be good enough for Texas State, but I might retake them to see if I can get a bit of a higher score; 84% for the verbal part and 54% on the quantitative part. I have to wait 10 to 15 business days for the results of my analytical writing. The essays I wrote were six steps on the wrong side of stupid but will probably be okay since can write a decent essay in my sleep. You can thank AP US history and Mr. Thomas for that. So it looks like I may be done with the real world and become a part time student again. All I have left to do is register, write an essay, get admitted, find the classes I want, get them, get advised, apply for scholarships, study pass, and graduate again. All this while keeping the grades up and the paychecks coming. Nothing like seeing your future laid out before you to make you tired and want to go back to bed; such a comfy, wonderful bed.

Today I left work and it was dark. The sun was gone, the lamps were lit, and it was dark. The parking lot glistened with the dampness from long gone rain, as I slid behind the steering wheel and joined the lemmings running toward home. Fortune smiles on me and I have a home warm and bright. I leave the dark at the door and enjoy some dinner.

Growing with this dark theme; Kimmy and I had a chance to see The Prestige. I recommend the movie, it was dark, it was unexpected, it leaves you with a slight sense of wrongness as you exit the theater. And if you wish to enjoy the movie with out me ruining; stop right now, close this page and go read something more enjoyable.

Well evidently if you are still reading this you have forsaken your own happiness and wish to know more. The movie starts of with Hugh Jackman (aka Wolverine or Curly McLain) and Christian Bale (aka Batman) as budding magicians. It takes a dark turn and Hugh Jackman’s wife drowns; it may/may not be the fault of Christian Bale. The story progresses with each young magician thwarting/maiming the other till Christian Bale creates the transported man trick; basically he violates the laws of space & time to cross long distances impossibly fast. Hugh Jackman borrows the trick using a double to make it work and in the process breaks his leg, loses a love and steals Bale’s diary. Skipping all the double crossing, dirty deeds, and dark humor … Hugh Jackman ends up in Colorado to find Nikola Tesla. Here science crosses to the dark relam of things that man should not do. Tesla had invented a device that transports an object; or a transporter if you will. The only problem is that it doesn’t so much transport the object as create a copy of it in another location. Hugh Jackman takes it home and proceeds to have a wildly popular stage career using the transporter. IF your still reading this, here goes the surprise twist. There are two Christian Bales, one ends up hung for the murder of Hugh Jackman; twins if you will. There are two Hugh Jackmans, one of which Christian Bale “murders”; one created by the transporter. The show ends with Christian Bale killing the remaining Hugh Jackman and discovering the grisly reminder that Hugh Jackman was doing only 100 shows. That’s right 100 shows using the transporter. Do the math and that’s the wrongness the movie ends on.

That little ruination of the movie hardly does it justice. I recommend that you go to the theater, plunk down $8 dollars, buy some overpriced crappy popcorn, and see the movie. It had twists, it had turns, it was wrong; having all of those things made a surprisingly good movie, Plus it had Nikola Tesla and one giant Tesla coil.

I just had Chicken Surprise! It’s always good, goes down spicy and warms the belly. I also got rained on while driving home; wasn’t expecting that so surprise again. Now I am sitting in front of the computer and am doing my best to slough off the day. Always is surprising how nice it is to come home to the Misses and leave the day behind me. Another nice surprise came from the guy on the corner of William Cannon & I-35 N. He looked hungry, I passed him an HEB gift card, we shook hands and then he told me the world needed more people like me. I was surprised how much that meant to me and how strong his grip was. He was a nice guy, never did catch his name, and I hope he stays dry tonight.

Not surprising is that Kimmy has already finished The End by Lemony Snicket. She got The End on Saturday and had reached the end of The End Sunday afternoon. I need to get my behind back in gear and catch up on my reading. Its threatening to build up and whack me in the shins, and everyone hates being whacked in the shins; I would be surprised to find anyone who likes being whacked in the shins. Personally I have never actually read any books by Lemony Snicket but evidently my writing style is very similar to his. I am still uncertain if this is a good or bad thing so I may eventually have to pick the series up and read through it.

Well I was going to write more about our trip to Albuquerque but I have already blathered enough, so come back Friday.

Well Kimmy and I finally made it back to Texas. Eastern New Mexico sucks, as does I-40. The construction was wretched and to make matters worse we got a bad flat; which delayed our arrival to and departure from Lubbock. But we finally got a new tire, caffeinated, and our butts in the car; we eventually made it back to Austin. It was a long drive and we were sad to leave New Mexico. The mountains were beautiful, the balloons were amazing, and seeing my old room mate was a blast.

I would write more, especially how Kimmy hates the architecture of Albuquerque, but I am exhausted. Even worse I have to get up and go to work tomorrow. I promise to write more Wednesday; some of which might even be entertaining.