I Turned 30 Yesterday

I don't have any reflections on getting older as of yet, but I'll try to keep you posted. Oh - people say your 30s are awesome. We'll see.

Vasquez #3 @ Lake Creek - A Little Taste of Mexico

I highly recommend Vasquez #3, tucked away in the Lake Creek Shopping Center (around the corner from Alamo Drafthouse and Jason's Deli, facing 183). They have the best breakfast tacos I've tasted in a long time. Simple flavors done right--and for cheap, too. I had 3 bacon, egg and potato tacos for under $6. So tasty.

New Mutemath Album "Armistice" Gives Up the Fight

I hope someone buys this album, so I don't have to spend the money on it to hear more than the 30 second previews, but so far, I don't have high hopes. Tie this one up with the new Muse and Wilco releases and you have a summer hat trick of disappointment...for me, at least.

Oh well.

Makes me wonder what releasing our own EP will be like. I'm guessing that everyone who hears it will have an opinion. I wonder if it will do well enough that I'll read about it on somebody's blog :)

PS - I'm listening to the self-titled Mutemath album right now, and I've just convinced myself that it's got too much sound for just headphones. Yes, it rocks that much. Definitely put it in the stereo and crank it -- that is, if you still own a stereo.

After re-listening, I'm liking:
"clipping"
"spotlight"
"pins and needles"

The New Muse Album

The new Muse album "The Resistance" sounds like Muse covering Queen covering Muse. Big disappointment.

Poem

i deal in phenylalanine
and fig root...
i deal in boot;
i deal in tree and ghost and tooth...
i deal in truth

Let it Be Known That...

Wednesday is like unto a coconut, wade fishing near the banks of the mighty Mississip'.

Let it Be Known That...

My people come from Alabam', where penmanship is for dilettantes.

Sayings

Jesus doesn't want you to give your life for him, but to him. It's not sacrifice--it's surrender.

It Will Blend

So, I have been dealing with high cholesterol for about a year now - high enough that they put me on medication and told me it would be for life. Apparently, it's a genetic thing.

After receiving the news, I was a bit ambivalent. Pit the chances of a heart attack before 40 against the allure of ice cream or the convenience of fast food, and most people keep on eating as before. For my part, I didn't do much to try and improve the situation, except for maybe a few extra salads. About the amount of effort you put into a New Year's resolution. That mystical double burger and fries just kept calling my name.

After about a month of medication (and concern), I let both run out and didn't bother to refill them. With no check-up scheduled, and no pills to take, I let the problem slowly slip out of daily consciousness.

Six months later, and the empty bottle of pills on my desk started calling my name, warning me, nudging me to get a refill. At first, I ignored its quiet, urgent pleas for action. But the daily reminder that I was letting something bad get worse began to make its way to the top of my mental to do list; and the bottle became a mocking reminder of the danger I was choosing to forget.

In the end, I decided to go get my cholesterol checked again. When the results came back, I found that my numbers had definitely gone up since the last visit, and that cinched it for me. Something had to be done.

The doctor renewed my prescription for a month, and asked me to come in for a follow-up. But just like last time, the visit wasn't scheduled in the book. It was very tempting to just take the meds and then forget about the problem, as before. So, I faithfully took the medication, but then also set a reminder to schedule an appointment in 30 days.

As the clock was ticking down, I was thinking about what I could do to change my diet. Something that was easy and made sense for me, not one of these crazy change-everything types of regimens that I knew I wouldn't keep. I had tried that before and was mentally defeated before I could really get started.

I also know just how lazy I can be. Cooking at home, preparing healthy meals, making wise choices...none of these are something I'm very good at. So I was a bit discouraged about my prospects for the future. It looked like I would just have to buckle down and be healthy, to everyone's displeasure.

Thankfully, about this time, I found something that I thought could really help me get to where I needed to be nutritionally, with minimal effort. I ran into a co-worker who brought a blended vegetable concoction to work in a mason jar. I asked about it, and he gave me a personal testimonial of how effective and useful his new kitchen appliance was (divine appointment, no doubt). I combined this with my parents' bad experiences with lesser appliances, and made up my mind.

There is a saying often used in business that goes something like this: "Choose two: fast, good, cheap." I chose fast and good--I chose the Will It Blend blender.

If you're familiar with this handy device, descriptions aren't necessary. If you're not, spending a Saturday afternoon trying to describe it's blending ferocity doesn't really sound appealing to me. Use the Google. Just type in "Will It Blend" and watch the videos.

You'll see. It will blend, whatever "it" is.

Nonsense 1

Robyn Trower called from his tower of sighs. He wants everything to be perfect. Gamble with the past and you may strike it rich. Miniature ambulances and tokens of regret are both die cast in a factory in China, on a once lonely country hillside, now saddled with the busy hands and minds of machines; all this while men lay silent and wait. Cords bind and words wound. Time is tuned to the foundries of the earth, long forgotten when the land was cooled and blessed and cursed.