boomhaurer

10:09 am: The old Alamo Motel - 6th and Guadalupe - Austin, TX
My sister bought me a great book for Christmas, "Austin, Texas Then and Now - A Photographic Scrapbook" by Jeffrey Kerr. http://www.amazon.com/Austin-Texas-Then-Now-Photography/dp/0976115204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203697038&sr=1-1

I feel a little strange when I read the book, because I had the idea for this book about ten years ago while doing some research for school in the Austin History Center. Not that my idea was very original, but I did come up with it independently. Then later realized that some other folks had already thought of it.

The premise of the book is simple, find old pictures of Austin, go to that exact spot and take a new picture from the same vantage point. Then compare pictures. Mr. Kerr did a great job with the book, and his research. Better than I would have probably, since most of my pics would have been of bars.

There are a thousand things interesting in the book, but one building that struck me was the old Alamo Hotel that used to be on west 6th and Guadalupe. Most of the building and places in the book, were gone a hundred, fifty, or so years ago. The Alamo Hotel was just knocked down in 1984, only 4 years before I came to Austin.

What struck me is how completely ignorant I was of the building. I never knew it was there. Of all the millions of stories I've heard from old Austinites over beers and other things, no one has ever mentioned it to me.

It was on the northwest corner of West 6th and Guadalupe. Where the new Extended Stay America suites are now.

That is exactly where the Alamo Hotel was here is a pic from the 1920's found in Dr. Kerr's book: Look for the arrow with the #1, this pic is looking west on Sixth from Congress Ave.

If you squint and look just two blocks west of the hotel, that is where years later Little Woodrow's would be, and I would be sitting there at the bar with a Lone Star talking with one of my favorite bartenders and writing this blog. (time passing = spooky)

Here is an old post card of the hotel:



The book mentions, an undated menu from the hotel diner boasts of "80 rooms all bath" in the "fireproof" building with "Rates $2.50 down" A breakfast of "Brains and Eggs" sold for 40 cents. Did people really eat Brains and Eggs in this century? Oooh - I'm not in that century anymore. I forgot.

The hotel lasted at least from the 1920's until it was torn down in 1984 by Lamar Savings & Loan. Apparently in the 1970's it had turned into a seedy spot filled with artists, hippies, drug dealers and boozers. The bar downstairs was part of the golden age of Austin music.

Before it was torn down a homeless advocate in Austin, Brother Tony Hearn publicly cursed the location as a protest against the hotel being torn down. He sprinkled animal's blood around the perimeter of the hotel. Not long later Lamar Savings and Loan was out of business and its owner was in jail for fraud.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson, kept his brother Sam Houston Johnson sequestered in the penthouse of the Alamo until his death. Apparently, Sam Johnson had a bit of a drinking problem. But I have no first hand knowledge of that at all.

Here is a wonderful blog from a Firefighter who helped film a Willie Nelson music video at the Alamo in 1982. http://web.mac.com/stephenacook/iWeb/random/Blog/9EBDACD4-2F46-4DFC-86B0-863F76B0B675.html - Willie and Merle's version of Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty" is one of my favorite songs ever.
Here is the video - with the Alamo hotel featured about 3:12 into it. Please note the Lone Star Beer at the end:


More memories of the place are shared here: http://www.hitcher.com/the_alamo_hotel_and_lounge

The people that performed in the bar downstairs are stuff of legend, and now music royalty. Even my 2nd and 3rd favorite Aggies, Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett performed there.

So strange how I'd never heard of it. Glad I have now.

(Many thanks to Dr. Kerr for his book, and to all the various bloggers for sharing their memories of the Alamo - Good stuff)

Tags: alamo hotel, austin music, little woodrow's, lyle lovett, robert earl keen

03:29 pm: I'm slowly trying to scan and archive old photo's I have strewn about the house. Then I'm going to start on old photo's strewn around my parents's house. I figure if I do 5-10 a day, and I live to be 70, I'll finish about 10 years after I die.
But I am making an effort.

This is a copy of a copy of one of my favorites. My maternal grandparents, John and Rumie Marquez. To me they were my Mamo and Papo(Mom-o, Pop-o). I miss them both.


I love how she's looking at him, and the young boys behind them are looking at both of them. A rather dapper young couple I'd say.

Papo had always told me this picture was taken after the war in Gallup, New Mexico. Papo was like me, or rather I'm like him, in the sense that we never let details get in the way of a good story. I googled the building behind them, and I am 99% sure it is the Sunshine building which is in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they lived for years.

Sunshine Theater, http://www.cabq.gov/planning/lucc/sunshine.html

Just thought I'd share.

Tags: albuquerque, sunshine theater

12:40 pm: 38 year old car prediction comes true

So I'm working on a blog about an old Playboy Magazine I found from May of 1970. Sorta got caught up in the linking and stuff though. Maybe I will get it out next week.

But one of the articles was about the "New Urban Car of the Future" Here is an artist's conception:

The artist hit that pretty right on. It was 38 years ago. Here is the new Mercedes Benz smart car that is hitting the USA this year, I stole this pick from the front page of MSN today 02/08/08.

I don't know how much those smart car's are going to sell for here. If they were like 10k I might consider it. But they better not be too much because for ~$17k you can get a brand new Honda Fit like Lulu's  Honda Fit FTW!

I love Lulu's Fit, but I'm pretty sure I was promised one of these by now.

Just as well though, people can't even drive on the ground, and it is getting worse. I think if we used the Z-axis there would be alot of untimely deaths.

Speaking of untimely death, a UN committee reported yesterday that smoking could kill a billion people in one hundred years.

UN Report on Smoking

Everyone knows smoking is bad, I need to quit pretty soon myself, I feel it is getting to be that time. But I would just like to point out that 100 years will kill about 6 billion people. With or without smoking. Just sayin.

I'm off family in town this weekend. Have a safe and happy one.

 

Tags: automotive, honda fit, playboy, smart cars

09:55 am: Congrats to the Red Sox Nation
I don't know how it happened, but somehow my favorite little bar, (Little Woodrow's on Sixth) became a Red-Sox Bar. It has rarely mattered, you notice a red sox fan here and there, usually watching a game on one of the TV's in the back. Well during this play-off run, word got out, and Red Sox fans literally took over the bar.

I've always rooted for the Red Sox, especially against the Yankees. But two Saturdays ago, my wife and I were up at Little Woodrow's and the Red Sox fans were there for the Indians game 6. I don't know if they had been tailgaiting all day or what, but they were a little out of control. One guy puked in the sink, they kept blocking the way to the head, then Lulu said a girl was ass up pants down and face down in an open stall puking her guts out.

Since then, Lulu won't go to Woodrow's with me if the Red Sox are playing.

Normally Sundays at Lil Woodrow's is my day to organize myself for the week. I make a long list of things to do, read a little, catch the football game, write a little, visit with some chill Sunday friends I've made. This is a little harder to do with 80 or so Red Sox fans screaming and yelling.

But other than that one night, actually, they have been fun. They are mostly Yankees(northerners) so they don't mind standing together in one huddled mass shoulder to shoulder around the bar. At least some of them know their baseball pretty damn well, and they are literally cheering every single pitch, every out, every hit, every call, everything.

They have organized cheers, there is the "clap guy". His job is on nearly every Red Sox pitch to start the slow clap. Others join in and the cadence speeds up until everyone is furiously clapping by the time the pitch is thrown. Then there is the "lets go Red Sox!" guy. His job is start the "Lets Go Red Sox" cheer after anything good happens. Also if Manny Rodriguez is up to bat, another guy starts the MANNY! MANNY! MANNY! chant. Oh, and the most important person is the guy that starts the Sweet Caroline song. Red Sox fans love this Neil Diamond tune, it has something to do with the movie Fever Pitch I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5r40FNY3Qo

All these things are perfectly acceptable at the ball park, I've done them myself. In a bar, well it just seems aggieish to me. It would be like if I was watching the horns, and everytime they scored I got up and sang the fight song. I dunno, I guess I just want to say, "THEY CAN'T HEAR YOU! QUIT IT!" But I knew what I was getting into.

I have to admit, I selfishly wanted my bar back. I started rooting against the Sox. First with the Indians, then it went to game 7, Red Sox won. Then I was rooting for the Rockies, but after the Sox won games 1 and 2 at home, I figured out, hey if they sweep this thing I will get my bar back for Monday night football. Really pretty selfish, since the bartenders and waitresses are making tips on nights that would normally be slow. But I'm an old man, I'm set in my ways.

The fans never bothered me personally, it was like I was in a different world from them. I sat at the end of the bar, watched CFU vs. Southern Miss on the other TV, got caught up on my three month back log of Vanity Fair's, and wrote a little. They saw me reading a magazine while their beloved Red Sox were on the TV right above my head, and it just didn't compute. So they just pretended I wasn't there. Which was fine with me. When I got up to have a smoke, or run to the restroom, they parted for me. "Pardon me sir", "I'm sorry sir." Nothing like the previous games.

Speaking of bartenders, my friend, "E" normally works Sundays, after about 8:30 she was all by herself with a barback working a crowd I estimated at 80, but it might have been bigger.
She has always been a great bartender, at least since I've known her, but last night she was truly on top of her game. It was a heroic effort.

I counted, and in one 10 minute period she made 11 trips from the very end of the bar back to the taps. The bar itself is a rectangle, maybe 30 feet long about 15 feet wide. Heck maybe bigger than that. She came on at 7pm, and had help until 8:30pm but was basically going non-stop from 7:00pm to 11:30ish. No breaks no nothing. Not even counting side to side movement, just counting full trips from one end of the bar to the taps at the back.
11 trips * 60'(roundtrip) * 27(4.5hrs*60/10)= 17,820ft/5280'=3.375 miles.

Stands to reason since the bar is basically a U, that at least twice as many people are on the long ends. But just to be conservative say she made at least 1.5 times as many half trips as full trips. 16.5 * 30'(roundtrip)*27= 13,365'/5280'=2.53 miles. Total is 5.9 miles. Not counting moving side to side to the cash register.

So she easily walked 6 miles during the game, at least half the time carrying beer. The noise was at times deafening, when the redsox scored a run, or made a good play. She looked a little harried around 10pm, but she rallied and closed strong. She took care of the entire Austin contingent of the Red Sox nation, and me, and never stopped smiling. I was very proud of her, and "C" her barback.

In the end, I was glad the Red Sox nation was there. It was fun, a headache but fun. There are few moments of pure unadulterated joy in life. I remember several;

Walking into a room full of your friends and family with a new bride on your arm to thunderous applause.....

The moment Vince went across the goal line in the 2006 rose bowl....

The first Rockets championship in 1994....

A couple others that are too personal to blog about.

It was fun to watch the Red Sox fans have one of those moments right in front of me. So congrats to the Red Sox nation! Thanks for sharing your championship. See ya next season. But maybe lets wait until then ok?

Tags: austin, bartender, baseball, beer, boston, championship, red sox

03:49 pm: Things we just don't do anymore
There is no way this post is not going to sound old fogeyish. So I'm just going to roll with with it. GO full on old fogeyness!

Sometimes little things happen that sort of smack you in the head. I'm only 37, except for a couple lingering aches and pains, I still feel 25. In my head I'm 25.

Earlier today, a model I worked with, who I now consider a friend sent out a prayer request for her mom on myspace. Her mom is waiting on some results from a cancer test. (If that is your sort of thing, say a prayer for her.) I went to her site, saw a picture of her mom, hah, she's my age.

My friend is 18 I think. I did the math, it makes sense. Just a little shocking.

Technically in my catholic family, I should nearly be a grandpa by now. Hell I got two cousins who are both older than their uncle. My mom and dad are ready for Lulu and I to get busy, and by ready I mean they told us flat out, "Get Busy!"

Thinking about family, made me think about the good times I had when I was a kid. My childhood was no less than idyllic. I always had my mom and dad, and then four years later my little sister, plus four wonderful grandparents. I also had an uncle who was only 5 years older than me, aunts and other uncles, cousins galore, great aunts and uncles it went on forever.

I remembered a trip we once took in a 1970 Plymouth Grand Fury.

See that huge back dashboard? At night us kids would sleep up there.
So if we were in a head on collision, we would fly through the car at head level, then right out the front windshield. But we did it, all the time.

If you let your 3-4 year old child do that today you would be arrested on the spot.

There are alot of things we used to do then that we would never do now:

We used to break open thermometers and play with the mercury.

Every self-respecting suburban family had a set of lawn darts.

My friends parents regularly spanked the crap out me if I did something that deserved it.

My teachers and coaches paddled me all the freakin time. (Do they still do that?)

I don't remember ever having a car seat.

I walked by myself to school.

We regularly talked to strangers.

At the park, or in a big yard there was a continual baseball game, or sometimes football game going on. You just had to walk up, and get on a team. Not a parent in site. No umpires either.

Sometimes all we had was a ball, so we just played smear the queer. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)

I stayed with my Mamo & Papo (maternal grandparents) in Stone Mountain, Georgia one summer, I guess I was about 11. I was born and grew up there, but my we had moved away. They borrowed a 10 speed bike for me, I was expected to be home at lunch and dinner. I just wandered the town (a suburb of Atlanta) all day long. No supervision at all.

We had forts in the woods, and if one group came near your group you had to fight em off.

There were woods. That's different I don't think there are woods anymore in most places.

We had bb gun wars all the time, the only rules were no pump weapons and no shooting in the face.

We had roman candle wars.

In Georgia at least if someone said something about your mom, you had to fight that person right then and there. You didn't have to win, but you had to fight. If an adult happened upon the fight, you would just say, "He called my mom a *&%#!" and the adult would shrug his shoulders and walk off.

My first job as a lifeguard was at the YMCA, in waterbabies class my job was to hold back the mother, while the other instructors threw the baby in the water to see if he would come back up again. Seriously. It worked nine times out of ten. I'm guessing they don't do that anymore.

I used to go over to my friends houses to eat. Do kids do that anymore?

My high school had a student smoking area.

If you were pale everyone would say,"You need some sun." "Get out in the sun, you look peaked."

100% of the guys I knew in 2nd grade carried a pocket knife to school.

We actually played kick the can.

We actually said, "Ollie-Ollie-Oxen-Free!"

I'm not saying it was better then. Kids got hurt, there were some not so pretty things going on behind the scenes. For instance in my little town in Georgia, there wasn't an African American to be seen. I had no idea at the time though.

Whenever I go by a park, and see the baseball field, or the basketball court just empty all the time, I wonder what happened?

END old fogeyness.

Tags: old people, the way it was

11:32 am: Article from Vanity Fair - A Death in The Family
I will not discuss politics on my blog. But this article caught my eye in this month's Vanity Fair.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/11/hitchens200711

A fairly long article but worth the read. Let me sum it up. Christopher Hitchens is a freelance writer, and a particularly good one. Even though I rarely agree with him.

One of Hitchens articles published on Slate and elsewhere had at least some part in causing a young man named Mark Daily to volunteer to go to Iraq.
The original article is here - http://www.slate.com/id/2175284/fr/flyout

Here is Mark Daily's myspace page which is chilling.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=46348938

Long story short Mark was killed by an IED January 15, 2007. Leaving behind his wife of 18months,his parents (who appear to be my age), A brother and two sisters.

His wife is Snejana (Janet) Hristova, who's first name means "Snowflake."

He wrote to her from Iraq:
"One thing I have learned about myself since I've been out here is that everything I professed to you about what I want for the world and what I am willing to do to achieve it was true. …

My desire to "save the world" is really just an extension of trying to make a world fit for you."

-Just makes me weep. That is the 5th time I read it, and I'm still weeping. Crap I just read it again and it still does it. My office mate must think I'm a freak. (Sorry Heidi)

It makes me want to go out to California, find his widow and just take care of her for the rest of her life. Just make sure she is happy and loved forever. But in the end, I know there is nothing I can do. I can say a rosary for her and Mark's family, and I have, but in the end there is no way to fill that void. I can't fix it, no one can.

The article is about Hitchens, the author, dealing with the fact that his words in part caused this young man's death. He never really deals with it actually, how can you? He goes and meets the family, and the widow and even attends the family ceremony spreading Mark's ashes.

It is just too much to take really.

It brings up similar conflict in myself. I was very much like Mark when I a teenager. It was my only desire to join the Navy, like my grandfather and uncle before me. I applied to the Naval Academy and for an NROTC scholarship. I was a finalist, but then they nixed me citing medical reasons. See I have a slight underbite, they even gave me a number it was like .05 millimeters too much of an underbite. No Academy appt (which was a long shot), no NROTC scholarship for me. It hurt then. It was all I ever wanted to do, and at age 17 my career was over. I remember during the first Iraq invasion, some friends wanted to join up, and I thought, "Nope they had their chance." I guess I am still bitter about it, and maybe in a sense jealous of those who are allowed to serve.

I still am the same as Mark was in the sense that I believe in America, I believe in our people, I believe we will do what is right, and that we can be the light in the world. I'm not sure we are acting that way now.

I have friends and family serving in Iraq and Afganistan, and various other places they won't mention to me. Because they are my age and older, they are Colonels, and Commanders, not 2nd lieutenant's like Mark. I'm very proud of them, and at the same time very afraid for them, but like Mark Daily it is what they chose to do.

The thing that makes me sad, or maybe angry, or at least very conflicted is that if I knew Mark, or a young man like him. I would do everything short of kidnapping him to keep him from volunteering.
Why is that? Who is responsible for making me feel that way?

Here is how Mark Died:
" On the 15th of January last, he was on patrol and noticed that the Humvee in front of him was not properly "up-armored" against I.E.D.'s. He insisted on changing places and taking a lead position in his own Humvee, and was shortly afterward hit by an enormous buried mine that packed a charge of some 1,500 pounds of high explosive."

From the article:
"A sergeant's wife had written a letter to Linda(Mark's Mom) and posted it on Janet's(Mark's Wife) MySpace site on Mother's Day, to tell her that her husband had been in the vehicle with which Mark had insisted on changing places. She had seven children who would have lost their father if it had gone the other way, and she felt both awfully guilty and humbly grateful that her husband had been spared by Mark's heroism."

(weeping again why I am always weeping nowadays, turning into a gaddamn pansy)

He was a hero. God bless him. I guess that is what I feel about Mark too. Awfully guilty and humbly grateful, but I would have to add angry as well. Not sure why.

EDIT: Jesus, whatever you do don't scroll down and read his myspace comments it will break your heart.

Tags: hitchens, iraq, mark daily, military., war

10:18 am: Astrocenter.com
My friend Holly posted a blog this morning titled Horoscope, which had a link to astrocenter.com. I was still dealing with the Existential Contingencies of my Dallas Cowboys hangover and moronically thought, "Cool Astroscenter.com, what's going on with the Astros offseason?"

I thought the link might be about the Astros, even though: 1. I know Holly, and I don't think she cares about the Astros too much. 2. The title of her post was "Horoscope", 3. A Horoscope was in her post.

Anyways, I filled out the quick form which included very in depth information about me, ie my birthday and this is what I got. I am very happy my life path number is 7. Elwood is my high school name from the Blues Brothers. You remember on the first day of class, the teacher would call roll and say, "If you want to be called something different, just let me know." They would always call out "Donald," and I would say, "Please call me Don." One day my freshman year I just said, "Please call me Elwood," and it stuck. My parents would go to parent teacher days and ask about Don, and no one knew who they were talking about. Anyways FWIW.

Name: Elwood

Sun Sign: Taurus
Life Path Number: 7
Chinese Sign: Dog



Dear Elwood,

Astrocenter has prepared your personal AstroProfile as a starting point for reflection about the forces that shape our lives. It provides not only a snapshot of your Sun Sign traits, you will also find accounts of your Life Path number, and your Chinese Sign. Get a new perspective. Enjoy!



Element: Earth

Mode: Fixed

Ruler: Venus

Color: Green, Red-Orange

Famous Taureans:
Fred Astaire, Joe Cocker, Bing Crosby, Salvador Dali, Ella Fitzgerald, Sigmund Freud, Audrey Hepburn, Malcolm X, Karl Marx, Golda Meir, Florence Nightingale, Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, William Shakespeare, Barbra Streisand, Eva Peron, Orson Welles

Strengths:
Cautious, committed, enduring, faithful, patient, persistent, realistic, reliable, responsible, sensual, stable, tender.

Weaknesses:
Conservative, greedy, indecisive, inflexible, jealous, lazy, materialistic, naive, overindulgent, possessive, procrastinating.

Your sign is that of earthy Taurus, the second sign of the zodiac, the sign characterized by endurance and sensuality. Taurus is also associated with material goods. Venus, the planet of love and beauty, is your ruler, and makes you a very warm and faithful person. For the most part, Elwood, you are even-tempered and show a great capacity for affection, as well as an appreciation for beauty and art. You are loyal and reliable. You keep your promises.

As the first of the three earth signs, you are realistic, patient, and persistent. You are the most grounded sign of the zodiac, preferring to put down roots and aiming for stability.

Comfort, even luxury, is very precious to you, Elwood. And indeed, you rule the second house, the sector of the horoscope that encompasses money and possessions. This house describes your value systems, including the value of oneself.

You are a fixed sign, Elwood, meaning you enjoy responsibility and taking charge. However, you are not a doer - you are a delegator! Like every genuine Taurus, it may take you longer to get involved with something, but once you do, you don't want to stop. You are more passive than active, and prefer to have the world move around you while you sit still and direct.

..>

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Your Life-Path number is probably the most influential numerological aspect to be considered, Elwood, and represents who you are at the time of birth. It indicates specific traits and will likely be active and influential throughout your lifetime. It is the overall number that determines much of what will be important to you and how you will handle things as they come.

If your Life-Path number is SEVEN, depth of thinking and the ability to gain knowledge from most everything will be something you've experienced since an early age. SEVEN is considered the 'spiritual' number and such qualities as intuition will be prominent.

Those with a SEVEN Life-Path are usually peaceful and affectionate. You may not have many friends as a SEVEN, but the ones you do have will be for life. You're a compassionate and caring friend. As a SEVEN, you will likely be able to sense deception from others quickly and you're not likely to be wrong. A balance between time with others and private time taken to be alone with your thoughts and dreams is essential.

It is common for SEVENS to be seen as aloof due to their selective socializing and required time alone. If the truth be told, many SEVENS feel a sense of insecurity. This may be because much of a SEVENS 'reality' is not tangible. You will rely heavily on instincts and intuition. At times this insecurity can lead to pessimism or loneliness. Mood swings are also not uncommon.


..>

The Dog's loyalty and sense of smell make him a sure friend with brilliant intuition. You are very human and warm and people count on that. You advance in life with a logic that is materialistic and you have a high sense of honor. Injustice makes your fur stand on end and you fight to the end against dishonesty and oppression.

Those who get in your way should be careful: your bite is deep and your bark thunderous. Willfully incisive, your cynicism is sharp and constantly fed by your pessimistic nature. This lucid realism allows you to rise quickly from your gloom. Nothing surprises you and certainly not worst-case scenarios. Your confidence in the goodness of men is relative and you have a tendency to distrust people that you don't know. But if someone conquers your heart, you are a great friend. You love to frolic in the countryside, spend an evening by the fire, and have your nose in a book.

A philosopher and discreet, you don't think that you can change society. To protect yourself from disappointment, you choose your close friends with care after having tested them in the smallest details. In this closed universe where affection reigns, you gladly show yourself as a nutty, eccentric companion that is fun to be around. Your fault: As an introverted Dog, you are on the defensive a little too much.
..>

..>



Not far off really, from how I'd see myself. That's some weird stuff. Thanks Holly. Nice job on the soccer workout too, in the words of Billy Crystal, You look marvelous!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZl3gGV4H6c

Tags: astros, horoscope, moron

01:04 pm: Just a shout out!
I need to go back and see how many of my blog entries start out...."Last night at Little Woodrow's." It is probably close to 90%.

Ok so Last Night at Little Woodrows (Sat) I was walking back to the Honda Fit to pick up another notebook, and this drunk lady sitting at a table near the rail yells out, "Hey handsome when's the baby due?"

I'd had been up that morning in our server room at 4am, and even though I napped I was out of it. I went to the fit, got my notebook sat down ordered another beer, and then it finally hit me. "Hey that was fucking fat joke and I was the butt of it!"

Just then one of the drunk lady's friends came up to me and apologized. Which was nice. I don't hold it against her. Hell a couple of weeks ago a drunk friend of mine was sitting at that very same table screaming out "Whore!" to girls who walked by. He did it once, I warned him. Then he did it again, so I threw him out. Still it was nice the lady apologized.

Then about a week ago, a drunk bum at the Showdown was sketching a picture of Wimpy from a burger ad at the bar. He asked me if I'd pay him a little to sketch me next to Wimpy. I said, "sure if you are good, how much?" He said, "I dunno I'm broke, but I promise I'm very good, you will love it." We agreed on ten bucks, and he commenced to sketching.

Ok so what we learned was:

1. He wasn't very good. 2. Ok maybe I could lose some pounds, but why am I fatter than Wimpy? 3. My nose is not that big. 4. Why are there bats at the bar? I think the bats were in his belfry, so to speak.
I paid the guy his $10 bucks, then had Scot throw him out of the bar for being obviously intoxicated. (He was, he was stealing food off other peoples plates.)

So two random events in the past week that both involve my belly. So here is my shout out to the drunk mean girl at Little Woodrows, and too the drunk blind artist at the showdown. Thanks folks! I get the message, time for Boom to get back in shape.

I had a good thing going before Vegas, but I guess I'm still on Vegas time, and with work, I started to forget to stay active.

I'm going to start working on my toobing body now, so I'm ready to float the river by next spring. Fat,drunk and stupid is no way to go through life ya know. You can only be two of the three.

Go Cowboys!






Tags: diet, drunk people, fat

10:55 am: Boom's Guide to Livin - L-I-V-I-N
Caveat Lector

Let Boom fix your life.

Live a Good Life you may only go around once in this world.

Who am I to give you advice? No one at all. I'm nobody. Take what you want and leave the rest, or leave it all. Everyone chooses their own path.

These are not Boom's rules of life. Rules don't work in life. You have to bob and weave, life is flexible.

Plus I guarantee there is nothing new here. There is very little new under the sun. Everything here can be found in history, the Good Book, the teachings of Buddha, the Bagadavita, any random Dr. Phil Book, and most good comic books. (Like the Green Lantern)

#5. Don't be a dumbass.

Any problem you are having, any decision you have to make, someone has had to do it before. Like I said, there is very little new under the sun. Seek out solutions, do your research. Ask your family, your friends, random people in bars. Don't be uninformed. Especially in this age of the internet and google, there is no excuse to being uninformed. "Know thyself" means know your own weaknesses, know the holes in your knowledge and experience, and know when to fill them. "Know thyself" = Don't be a dumbass. (I don't care what spell check says, dumbass is one word not two)

#4 Your life is not a public library, everyone doesn't get to come in.

No drama, and no crazy people allowed. Life itself is a sometimes joyous and sometimes exquisitely painful tragic drama. It does not need drama added to it artificially. Life is too short.

Once you realize you are around a person that invents problems, or creates drama, just thank the heavens you noticed before you became too involved and then walk away and never look back.

Unfortunately, there are crazy people in this world. Crazy for different reasons, illness, genetics, drugs, or just plain bat shit crazy. Life isn't fair, and the crazy people got a raw deal. But you can fix it, or them. Don't try. If you care about the crazy person, try to get them help. There are people that help crazy people for a living. Get them help, and then insulate yourself from them. Develop a "crazy radar" and hone it your whole life. Crazy people are crafty, they can sneak up on you.

I've learned some surefire indicators that point to a person being crazy.

If the very first time you meet someone and they open up to you about:
1) Their medications.
2) Their therapist
3) Their suicide attempts
4) The History of People fucking them over.

...well then that person is crazy. Move along.

#3 Work hard at what you love, play harder at what you adore and remember no excuses ever.

People spend too much time living up to other peoples' expectations. Figure out your own expectations and live up to them. You don't have to justify yourself or your life to anyone but yourself. Do what you want to do. It is your story and your the hero, write it how you you want.

Be warned though. You may be the hero, but there are villains out there and they are trying to destroy you and yours. Stay on your toes and Semper Fi.

If your personal story is that of the villains. So be it. You will get yours. The Heroes of the world will rally against you forever and ever on end.

#2 Learn the art of the Baksheesh
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baksheesh
http://archive.salon.com/travel/diary/pott/2000/04/11/baksheesh/index.html

Those descriptions don't really do Baksheesh credit. Baksheesh is a foreign concept to most Americans, especially the further you get away from New Orleans and the Northeast. Baksheesh is quite simply what makes the world go round. It was invented far before there were even humans. Dinosaurs probably understood it.

Ever hear the term, "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine?", "Quid pro quo", "Give and Take." A rather enlightened gentleman even invented a rule about it, some say it was golden. "Treat others how you would like to be treated."

The term Baksheesh itself, usually applies to money or favor, but the concept applies to life, to power, to politics. It is how the mafia was run, it is how governments are run. It really does make the world go around.

A quick practical example. We are all at an all inclusive beach resort in Mexico. Drinks are included, food is included, even entertainment is included. No tipping, which Americans and Northern Europeans love. But...the resort is crowded.

Well me and my 7 friends enjoy a cocktail or ten while sunning ourselves by the pool. But we hate waiting in line for a drink. I had encountered this problem before, at this same resort. So before we left, we all bought matching Texas Longhorn cups. Our first day at the resort, we all go to the pool bar, put our cups on the bar, ask for 8 margaritas and lay $100 in $10 bills over the cups. In practiced spanish I say, "Senor, this is for you and your bar staff for taking care of us Longhorns while we are here. We appreciate it."

We did something similar with the night bar staff, and the restaurant staff, the door guys and the entertainment staff. Total cost? About $40 a person for the whole week. Total time waiting for anything? Zero. Plus we got personal night club tours, a personal scuba tour and made a ton of new friends.

Think of practical baksheesh as a pre-tip. When someone is doing something for you, and doing it well, think to yourself, "If I was that person how would I like to be compensated?"
Remember, Life is pay as you go.

It isn't always about pure cash either. What can you do for people who are doing something for you? How can you help them?

Learn the art of the Baksheesh. I promise it will make your life 100% easier.

1. Give up the ghost already

This is going to seem harsh, and it is, life is harsh. But it is also strangely liberating.

Let me explain in two parts.

Imagine you wake up one morning to find all your family, all your friends, all your acquaintances, all your co-workers or business partners, your mailman, your barber, everyone you ever knew or even brushed up against in your life, you find all of them dead.

Ok the first part was fun wasn't it? Now the second part.

Just as you realize they are all gone, you yourself breathe your last breath and keel over dead. But in that last second of consciousness you remember all the people you loved and never showed them (telling them is not enough). You remember all the people your wronged and never righted. You remember all the time you wasted on things that didn't matter, and now you know there is no time. You remember all the fun you never had because you were scared, all the life you never lived. Just then you realize, "Oh no it is over." Then your life goes "click" and your dead.

Well the first part is going to happen. The second part doesn't have to happen, if you live your life knowing the first part will.

It is not a doomsday philosophy, it is not a "fuck it, we are all going to die" philosophy either. It is not pessimistic or dark, or god forbid goth. It is just the opposite.

Maybe we all end up in Heaven, or Valhalla, or a green field somewhere. I have faith, hell I'm still catholic. But I don't know.

I do know I love my life, my parents and my ancestors who made it possible. I love my wife. I love my little sister. I love my friends. I really do, and I'm fully prepared to show it as much as possible.

That's it, Boom's guide to life, FWIW. Oh one more thing, no socks with sandals.

-Roach

Tags: life

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