Gone Fishing....

Gone Fishing.... http://srfedrick.multiply.com/ Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:53:07 -0000 Wed, 9 Jul 2008 12:54:28 -0000 is equal to the love you take ".....her majesty's a pretty nice girl, someday I'm gonna make her mine oh yea some day I'm gonna make her mine" http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/792/is_equal_to_the_love_you_take Wed, 9 Jul 2008 12:54:28 -0000 ...I'm so glad we had this time together! Again, I find myself questioning the purpose of this journal.  Jotting down the intimate details of my life can be done without publishing them.  I enjoy feedback, that's true, but the number of commenters are diminishing along with the number of comments (with great exception to Frank and John who have been exceptional buddies).  So....not with a bang but barely a whimper. http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/791/.Im_so_glad_we_had_this_time_together Tue, 8 Jul 2008 20:27:42 -0000 To compose or to decompose To compose or decompose. That is the question. http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/790/To_compose_or_to_decompose Tue, 8 Jul 2008 19:41:41 -0000 Fire and Rain The west coast fires continue to burn while the midwest floods abate.  Bertha has been upgraded to a catagory 3 hurricane in the Atlantic but she's far from land and further from our coasts.    http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/789/Fire_and_Rain Tue, 8 Jul 2008 14:07:17 -0000 One of those best times Diana, Jeff and I arrived on Tuesday and did some last minute cleaning.  Judy and Lisa drove up in their rental car from DFW airport at 5:00 pm Wednesday and Lisa's parents Roger and Carol drove in thirty minutes later from southern ILL.  Diana had a full Turkey dinner awaiting their arrival.  Thus begin five days of wonderful fellowship and food.   As I mentioned earlier, my folks met Lisa's folks at Judy's Naval retirement ceremony in San Diego last year and hit it off right away.  So their meeting Judy and Lisa in Tyler for the extended weekend was a great idea.  This was one of those lovely times that will be etched in my memory.  My folks won't be around forever and it's times like these I treasure. http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/788/One_of_those_best_times Mon, 7 Jul 2008 12:55:31 -0000 Hoot This is the last day of the extended holiday spent at my folks with Judy, Lisa and Lisa's parents.  So far, I can't imagine how it could go off better than it has.  Lisa's Mom Carol and Dad Roger from southern Illinois are sweet lovely people.  Small hitch early early yesterday morning when I met Diana and Dad in the ER.  Dad had severe leg cramps and shortness of breath.  After the blood work came back, the Doc gave Dad a prescription and told him to stay hydrated as the Lasics was effecting his potassium levels and sent us home. Last night we went to <a href="http://www.thegladewateropry.com/">http://www.thegladewateropry.com/</a> and saw an entertaining couple of hours of local singing talent.  Hoot.  <img height="282" src="http://www.thegladewateropry.com/oprybuilding2.jpg" width="349" border="0"> http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/787/Hoot Sun, 6 Jul 2008 15:04:15 -0000 You say tomata I say ah damn it <a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://getfantasticdeals.com/library/Picasso-TomatoPlant.jpg&imgrefurl=http://getfantasticdeals.com/pro1252775.html&h=480&w=320&sz=40&hl=en&start=20&tbnid=IxAk_jM_tjuD6M:&tbnh=129&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTomato%2Bplant%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG"><img style="border: 1px solid;" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:IxAk_jM_tjuD6M:http://getfantasticdeals.com/library/Picasso-TomatoPlant.jpg" width="86" height="129"></a>My tomato plants which I planted in $17/bag Scot Miracle Grow Dirt have exploded into gorgous bushes almost tall as me with a cascade of yellow blooms.  To date I see only two tomatoes.    http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/786/You_say_tomata_I_say_ah_damn_it Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:43:55 -0000 Google Image: Summer <img alt="" src="http://www.bigskyresort.com/Global%20Contribution/Header%20Images/Big%20Images/summer.jpg"> Picture copied at:  <a href="http://www.bigskyresort.com/Activities/Summer/index.asp">http://www.bigskyresort.com/Activities/Summer/index.asp</a> http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/785/Google_Image_Summer Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:21:32 -0000 The Bubble I traveled to Mom and Dad's this weekend and helped them ready the house as niece Judy, her partner Lisa, and Lisa's parents are coming for a Wednesday through Sunday visit.  I manged to get in a couple hours of fishing but I didn't catch a dang keeper.  After getting back home, Carlos came over and mowed my front yard.  Carlos is a seventeen year old immigrant from Mexico who moved in with his mom and step-dad down the block from me about six months ago.  He's been doing my yard work a couple months now.  After I paid him, he asked me to take him to get something to eat.  He said his mom only fixes enough for herself and his step father. I don't think I believe that but I took him to What-a-Burger. Last night I watched "The Bubble" on the Sundance channel.  The movie was billed as Romance, comedy and tragedy converge in Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox's story of three hip 20-somethings from Tel Aviv. Lulu (Daniel... http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/784/The_Bubble Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:04:24 -0000 The Last Best Lost Art I've mentioned Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt on a previous blog.  NYT BIO:  Sam Wang, an associate professor of molecular biology and neuroscience at Princeton, and Sandra Aamodt, a former editor in chief of Nature Neuroscience, are the authors of “Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life.” They have another op-ed piece in the New York Times today called, "Your Brain Lies To You". It's about how empirical evidence shows we (consumers of news) have a tendency to mold info we recall into our own world view and discount statements that contradict it.  We are prone to selectively accept and remember statements that reinforce beliefs we already hold.  In one study, college kids heard that coke is excellent paint thinner and by the 5th time they heard it they believed it and attributed the source to Consumer Reports instead of National Inquirer.  In my opinion, this helps explain... http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/783/The_Last_Best_Lost_Art_ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:19:06 -0000 Bueno As delicious as her tacos taste, you’d think Diana is part Mexican.  She’s a great cook and prides herself on being extremely fast.  She’s amazingly fast.  In fact, last night she arrived for our weekly supper and in about 15 minutes the hamburger and onions were seasoned and fried and the sizzling taco shells were ready for stuffing.      Our suppers are still evolving.  I extended a once-a-week standing invitation to her and Jeff since she’s stopped cooking altogether.   After several Tuesday nights I asked if she’d cook some if I had the ingredients waiting for her and if I cleaned up.  She agreed (she says she doesn’t mind cooking—it’s the cleaning up she hates).  We alternate cooking now.  We both love it (I grill. Grilling is hard to muck up). http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/782/Bueno Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:17:46 -0000 Dark hair, olive skin & pasta <a href="http://www.carlysimon.com/music/albums/Albums.html#pp"></a> <img id="prodImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41W9NR7G9KL._SS500_.jpg"> This is how I remember Carly Simon.  I think it was James Taylor, her future ex-husband, who complimented her fine assets upon seeing this picture.  Happy 63rd Birthday Carly.  Sixty Three?  Yikes!   My budget is tightening, the dollar’s weak, airfare prices are ever increasing and I have nagging health issues.  Still, I am becoming increasingly obsessed with the notion of seeing Italy.  Step one:  apply for the passport. http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/781/Dark_hair_olive_skin_pasta Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:28:27 -0000 Who let the dogma out? Did you see the news about the <a href="http://religions.pewforum.org/">U.S. Religious Landscape Survey</a> which revealed a broad trend toward tolerance and an ability among many Americans to hold beliefs that might contradict the doctrines of their professed faiths?  The most shocking revelation for me was the fact that 70 percent of Americans affiliated with a religion or denomination said they agreed that “many religions can lead to eternal life,” including majorities among Protestants and Catholics. AND GET THIS, among evangelical Christians, 57 percent agreed with the statement.  NOT surprisingly to me was the fact that among minority faiths, more than 80 percent of Jews, Hindus and Buddhists agreed with the statement, (BUT WAIT!) and more than half of Muslims did.In a statement earlier this month, Rev. Jo Hudson of Cathedral professed this belief from the pulpit.  Although I believe it myself, I thought it was a revolutionary thing for a Christian minister to acknowledge.  Perhaps it wasn’t so revolut... http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/780/Who_let_the_dogma_out Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:17:36 -0000 Sunny Sky & Sad Song Sung It's a beautiful time to be alive here in north Texas.  We don't have floods or typhoons to contend with (my heart goes out to Midwesterners and Philippines), only blue skies and the bright hot sun. Those floods are going to keep the agency plenty busy this summer.  Saturday, I worked my first over time hours in a couple of years. Sunday was a red letter day.  I finally completed the demo, Expectations.  I'll post it as soon as I get the copyright paperwork sent.  I'm inspired to keep the momentum going and get all my songs demo'd.   I'd hate to expire (not that I'm planning a departure any time soon) with my songs still in me. http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/779/Sunny_Sky_Sad_Song_Sung Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:13:15 -0000 Quit ignoring me It’s been more than a year since I’ve been to the movies; I have no idea who Chris Brown is, even though currently he has two hits in Billboard’s top ten.  I do watch television.   I flip constantly.  Nothing much engages me.  Television=crap.  I don’t own a gaming console.  I don’t text message.  I’m between plans and don’t have cell phone service (and wouldn’t get a service if my vehicles had less than 95K miles).  Good grief, I’m not ignoring popular culture these days, popular culture is ignoring me. http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/778/Quit_ignoring_me Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:07:11 -0000 The Two Obamas by David Brooks God, Republicans are saps. They think that they’re running against some academic liberal who wouldn’t wear flag pins on his lapel, whose wife isn’t proud of America and who went to some liberationist church where the pastor damned his own country. They think they’re running against some naïve university-town dreamer, the second coming of Adlai Stevenson.  But as recent weeks have made clear, Barack Obama is the most split-personality politician in the country today. On the one hand, there is Dr. Barack, the high-minded, Niebuhr-quoting speechifier who spent this past winter thrilling the Scarlett Johansson set and feeling the fierce urgency of now. But then on the other side, there’s Fast Eddie Obama, the promise-breaking, tough-minded Chicago pol who’d throw you under the truck for votes. This guy is the whole Chicago package: an idealistic, lakefront liberal fronting a sharp-elbowed machine operator. He’s the only politician of our lifetime who is underestimated because he’s too... http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/777/The_Two_Obamas_by_David_Brooks Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:42:58 -0000 Flat Tire Update That big ass truck tire was so flat it wouldn't take air so Jeff had to change it (I had a full size spare).  Sears repaired it & the other back tire which unbeknown-st to me had also been punctured by whatever I had run over.  I had purchased the tire warranty so this episode only cost two and a half hours vacation time and fajita lunch and burger-and-shake dinner for Diana and Jeff, compensation I was thrilled to offer. And to top off my good luck, a front came through just prior to my nephew arriving to change the tire and the temperature dropped from muggy hot nineties to cool and breezy mid-seventies.  In June.  In Texas.  Thank you, God. I dreamed about my wonderful late friend Danny last night.  Funny but I only recognized him as Danny after I awoke. It was a frolicking kind of dream with lots of action.   The Danny dream came after a nightmare in which I was driving the wrong way down a one... http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/776/Flat_Tire_Update Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:59:24 -0000 On my way to work ....I ran over something in the road.  I made it to a gas station a couple of blocks from work before my tire went completely flat.  The station didn't have air so my truck is sitting in the parking lot.  I was just about to walk to work when a co-worker recognized me and gave me a lift.  That was nice.  It's already hot out there.  I think I bought the road hazard insurance with the tires (and there is a Sears not too far from here.  I'm hoping I can just get my nephew up here and bring my elec air pump.  I don't have his number but I think I can find a way to locate it.  Geez.  But really it could be worse.  I could be on the side of the highway in the middle of Dallas/Fort Worth rush hour with no cell and no way to change my tire (back issues). http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/775/On_my_way_to_work Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:05:55 -0000 Keepers and Chocolate  I hope you had a good weekend. The summer sun was brutal Sunday morning.  Good thing we ran out of minnows at 10:30 am.  I couldn't have lasted longer.  (This summer heat is causing nausea and weakness.)  immediately after we first got to "the stump" (our favorite fishing spot) Dad and I caught cat (little fiddlers).  Dad caught a few crappie then it slowed way down.  After about an hour we moved to 'the tree' (our second best spot) and had a lot more fun.   The total catch for the day was 17 keepers.(our two cats and fifteen crappie).   Dad was the winner, (appropriate for Father's Day) with 7 keepers, I caught 6 and Uncle Donny (usually the indisputable winner) caught 4.  Later, Donny and Faye joined us for Father's Day Lunch at Mom and Dad's.  We had NY Strips and sweet corn, green beans and homemade bread.  On our way back home to Mansfield, Dian... http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/774/Keepers_and_Chocolate Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:07:06 -0000 Happy Father's Day Dad Were on our way to pick up minnows for our morning fishing w/ Uncle Donny.  The big one is calling my name.  For lunch I picked up some Rib eyes, New York Strips and sweet corn.  Then homeward bound.    To all my Father Friends: Happy Father's day! http://srfedrick.multiply.com/journal/item/773/Happy_Fathers_Day_Dad Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:47:10 -0000 Father's Day Tyler Texas (Rib-eyes and New York http://srfedrick.multiply.com/calendar/item/10002/Fathers_Day_ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:38:26 -0000