Buzzzzzz...part two

Today was a beautiful day and I had to get outside, bees or no bees. I chose to go the Kimbell art mueseum. Since it's closed on Monday it was empty and I had it all to myself. I sat on the marble barrier in front of the courtyard, took off my shirt to get some sun, I had a god book and some water. There was one lone photographer that was just leaving....I was content. Then I heard a buzzz in the distance, it started of faint then grew louder and louder. A stupid maintenance guy with a giant backpack blower was working his way in my direction. Eventually he was inside the courtyard, pushing tiny little leaves around the pebbles (I know it's your job but come on, Louis Khan probably wanted a few leaves to hang about). Since I was sitting at the mouth of the stone clad, three-sided courtyard it was like an amplified rock concert of ear piercing blower buzz.

It seemed like a good idea to visit the museum on a closed day, guess it's the day they do all the yard work. Amon Carter sculpture garden was all closed off and they were mowing around it too, so I got back in car and went over to Botanical Gardens. I get out and a group of men are hammering some giant metal stakes, not sure what for but damn it was loud. I finally found a little solace in the 'compost depot' section of the park, but it was a bit dark and dank in there. I managed to find a good bench half lit by the sun. I read about one page and was exhausted. After getting lost looking for a bike path that's tucked somewhere in this suburban neighborhood (with the curvy roads and culdesacs...I hate them and they're everywhere here), I finally got home where I could relax in peace.

Guess what Jose, the apt. staff guy had set up right outside my porch....a giant table saw!!!! This is the summer of buzzzzzz...

Buzzzzzzzzz....no wonder you're dying off!

Have you ever been in the a situation where you're making your best efforts to enjoy nature, the fresh air, the sunlight, the breeze, only to become very annoyed by nature again and running back into the comfort of carpeted, air conditioned bliss?....

I just moved into a new apartment, a little 'townhome', one bedroom with upstairs loft...it's great and dirt cheap (any rent in Texas seems cheap to me know after living in NYC). I've got a great little back porch that faces south, tons of wonderful sunlight all day (also the complex's pool is right by me, looking forward to the local eye-candy sunbathers, not looking forward to loud bratty kids splashing all day and doing cannonballs, I wouldn't be surprised if my back door is in the splash zone). Anyways, I was sitting out on the porch in my shorts, facing square-on to the sun to get maximum even Vitamin D absorption (even hiked up my shorts a bit, with discretion, to sear those pasty white thighs). I was eating a big slice of watermelon, had to sit at edge of porch next to gate so I could spit the seeds into the grass (next time I'm buying seedless)....

Then came lovely mother nature, in the form of a big fat furry bee. I've heard that bees are in bad shape lately, a huge famine that could jeopardize all sorts of pollination across the globe, so I respect the little guy, I'd even be happy to share my watermelon and pat him on the back, say 'hang in there buddy'. He was just buzzing around, didn't seem to have much to do but was too close to comfort. I've had bad reactions to bee stings in the past (not sure if he's the type that sting, but not going to wait and find out). So I thought I'd go inside and give him some space. Guess who followed me inside?

That wasn't even the annoying part! The first thing he did was buzz back towards the door, except he went for the other half of the glass door, with glass in it. He buzzed around, got behind the blinds. I tried closing the sliding door a bit to give him some space...then he decided to go in the little crack between the sliding glass and the fixed glass! So now he's buzzing around, sandwhiched inbetween the glass, INSIDE the apt!! After 20 minutes of trying to persuade him out of there, I finally had to stuff a shirt into the crack so he wouldn't go back in there, then I had to scoop him into the middle of the living room with a newspaper. He immediately zoomed out the now wide open door (probably by accident, and who knows who else came inside all this time). I'll be taking a break from nature for now....I don't remember Henry Thoreau having these problems.

Pencil Neck

Ok, so I'm already starting to see the attraction of blogging. You can have random thoughts and share them with the world instantly, on record, etched in stone (blogging probably not that permanent, I'm sure they'll come a day when the internet doesn't exist in a bleak, post-apocalyptic...nm). There are some real issues I'd like to discuss, but first...

Today I went and got my driver's license renewed. The DMV has a bad reputation for being the worst place in the world for customer service....long waits, extremely rude and nasty staff that generally hate people, poor facilities with no windows, flickering fluorescent lights, mildew stained acoustic tile and chipped linoleum... ok, if I worked in that environment everyday I'd be a miserable sod too. In any case, the experience wasn't so bad, partially because my mom prepared everything for me (I'm forever spoilt), so I had my social security card, proof of residence, I was in and out in 10 mins, I was even chipper enough to give a generous 1 dollar donation to blind education or something (I was a little embarrassed I had it so easy, poor guy in front of me barely spoke English and was confused as hell).... then I got my picture taken....

It's your driver's license so it's supposed to be a terrible photo, it's a fundamental law of nature, like the fibonacci sequence of a nautilus shell, you can't expect to change it! I sort of made an effort to gussy up beforehand, I even got out the shears to trim my misshapen haircut (turns out it's my head that's misshapen, the trim didn't help). I dry-shaved the borders of my stuble/5 o'clock shadow, I even practiced a big teethy smile in the mirror they had by the counter. Then I got thrown a curve-ball, and unexpeted skinny neck!

I've lost a few pounds recently (30 lbs.) so I'm still adjusting to this new body, so the skinny neck was a new concept for me. Luckily youtube had some suggestions for bulking up my neck.... you put your hand on the side of your head and push against it with your head. A few minutes each side, pretty straight forward. I can see me doing this a couple days and then forgetting about it till the next front-profile photo I see of myself. I'll be going to an engagement party in Laredo, TX next weekend, with lots of photos....looks like I'll be doing some major neck workouts on the 8 hour drive back...

Another reason why I don't want to be a pencil neck: just look up the definition in the urban dictionary. A pencil neck is a "coward, weak timid person, one who works in an office doing an hum-drum type of job like IT or accounting.".... Ok, maybe I don't care about the urban definition of pencil neck, I just didn't like my picture!! ....are turtle-necks back in style?

1st post, Howdy!

Hello everyone! This is my first ever blog post. Most people seem to start a blog with a direct purpose in mind, maybe to find support for starting a new diet, or chronicaling their day-to-day lives to keep family and friends around the world up to date. As for me, well, I'm not completely sure what the main purpose of blogging is yet, and that's ok. I've been cruising around the blogosphere, subscribing to random pages I found interesting, and thought...might as well of a homebase for all these blogs, my very own blog!

I have been going through a challenging time in my life, so writing this blog will probably be therapeutic for me, to let off some steam, keep a record of my thoughts, trials and tribulations, just to support myself through this 'journey' I find myself in. It all sounds very ominous, but I'll fill you in in due time. You can probably make some guesses based on my list of blogs I'm following...

I know there aren't any readers out there yet, but there may be a couple one day (I've found myself reading blogs with 1 or 2 subscribers in the whee hours of the night), so I say to you, welcome, thanks for stopping by, and be safe. :)